Goldsmiths - University of London

The title of the exhibition is taken from one of the most famous quotes from 19th century English interior designer, poet and socialist William Morris.
The exhibition consists in two works: Two Squares and The Morris Kitsch Archive.
The first, Two Squares, reproduces from El Lissitzky’s Of Two Squares 1920. This short picture book for children tells the story about two squares, one red, one black that transform the world. Each Lissitzky image is painted over a different William Morris wallpaper, constructing a dialogue between Lissitzky’s revolutionary narrative and Morris’ utopian visions of fecundity.
The second, Morris Kitsch Archive, is a collection of over 450 images of domestic objects to which Morris patterns have been applied, including bags, clothes, cushions, mugs, sofas, stationary, tea cosies and tools. The archive illustrates how Morris designs have been appropriated for a mass consumer society, a development that has made Morris design widely available at the expense of the qualities and values inherent to his original project.
The two works face each other across the gallery, suggesting two alternate histories, one a possibility, the other a reality.