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Created by designer Sebastian Campion for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Roskilde, Denmark, Social Souvenir is an art installation, new media experiment and souvenir T-shirt all in one. Fifteen T-shirt designs were created with slogans inspired by artists whose work is featured in the museum's collection, including Yoko Ono, Marcel Duchamp and Laurie Anderson; only 20 of each T-shirt were made. Museum visitors could purchase the T-shirts with one stipulation: they would be required to share their name and address when paying. This information was plotted in Google Maps, documenting the location and owner of each of the 300 T-shirts. Therefore, the T-shirts weren't just a cool product - they also served as a way to contribute to the development of the exhibit, link museum visitors to each other, and provide a unique experience.

Along with the location-based My Urban Rabbit Hole T-shirts, there is clearly a trend in consumers wearing social experiences on their sleeve. A funny slogan T-shirt just isn't as interesting as it once was. Young people are drawn to products that tell a story, are interactive and - especially with the popularity of visual mapping - document the actions of themselves and their peers. Campion has hinted that there will be future versions of Social Souvenir that will allow for even more user-interaction - so be on the lookout to see where this trend goes next!

www.socialsouvenir.net/
www.trendcentral.com
tuesday, 11.11.08