Afghan Mural

Made of extruded aluminum, metal box frame and digital printed graphics, Afghan Mural is a large photographic mural/​sculpture with a structure based on typical, rotating, commercial advertising billboards. These signs normally incorporate two to three advertisements that rotate at paced intervals. Instant Coffee used this basic principle to create a kinetic mural with three sides, but their version functions more like a puzzle that the community centre’s users will be able to move by hand. Each side of the rotating wall mural depicts one special afghan blanket. 

“The sixties and seventies were the primary time when Afghan blankets were made and circulated. They were normally homemade, rarely sold commercially and likely gifted items. Currently, they have found a secondary market are readily available in thrift stores. Economics, accessibility, colour and their relationship to do-it-yourself culture has led Instant Coffee to consistently use afghan blankets we find. They have a ubiquitous sentimentality that draws us to them, and certainly carry with them nostoglia. It is their vernacular aesthetic, punctuated by extreme colour that puts them into the realm of pop and op art.

“Most North Americans have a relationship to this mid 20^th century domestic craft. They likely have or have had one draped over their sofas, or know someone who made them. For our project for the recreation centre we wanted to tap into this personal, yet shared memory.” – Instant Coffee