OYUNA at LDF - Peter Marigold

For London Design Festival 2014 we collaborated with three starkly different design practices. The pieces were exhibited as part of Brompton Design District in September 2014. Here, Peter Marigold explores the way we define and construct notions of luxury, using fibres such as cashmere. Originally used by the horseback warriors and nomadic tribes of Mongolia as protection from the elements, it has since been appropriated by (largely Western European) manufacturers to signify a particular, gentrified brand of luxury. It is far removed from the functional roots of the fibre and something that Oyuna Tserendorj also attempts to address in her ongoing work.

Peter’s pieces use heavyweight, raw steel as mark-making tools on the fabric. The cashmere is folded into asymmetrical forms which are then pinned down by the heavy steel objects. They are then soaked with water to initiate a slow rusting process. The rusting stains the fabric, penetrating the thin layers of cashmere. After an intensive, hand-worked process of folding, refolding, adjusting and waiting for the steel to fully leave its mark, the cashmere is opened up again to reveal repeating symmetrical patterns caused by the rusting.