In the global market, a nation can be imagined as a vector along the frictionless path of logistics. More&More Unlimited made these postcards as a way to reimagine national identity. Why have an abstract flag, when you can have a dynamic textile “portrait” composed of your top export products? we focused on creating national “portrait” textiles by visualizing nations’ world’s fair share1—the export products that dynamically make up the majority of a nation’s export identity.
1 Re: worlds fair share, see “Technical Box box 2.2: who makes what?
Data source: Observatory of Economic Complexity
Two of our favorite postcards represent Italy and Somalia. There is some general overlap in their export goods. They both export hides, for instance. But Italy’s hides are refined and Somalia’s are crude. We appreciate this pairing and what the textiles depict, as Italy was responsible for a lot of dumping and pollution in Somalia’s waters which contributed to Somalia’s economic and ecological demise, which in good part led to its current characterization as a nation of pirates (see The Deadly Life of Logistics, Deborah Cowan).
