Project
Käsesyndikat

Year
2024

Location
Dutch Design Week 2024

Type
Performance, Installation

Collaboration
Graduation Project with Nicolas Seiler


In a nine-day performance, Nicolas and Livni sold cheese made from the milk of their leased cow, Winja, to visitors of the 2024 Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show. The cheese became a medium to share the story of how, by leasing a cow, they engaged with a community of farmers in the Swiss Alps and learned about a commons-based farming system. In this village, to receive a share of the seasonal cheese, everyone owning cattle is responsible for the maintainance of the shared pastures in the spring. By leasing Winja, Nicolas and Livni now carry a role in this communal labor and, in return, receive their share.

In total they sold 196 pieces of cheese, each packaged with an invitation to visit the Graduation Project of one of their 196 fellow students, highlighting the interconnectedness of practices that evolved from the Design Academy Eindhoven learning community. The cheese became a communal resource once again, sparking reflection on the shared responsibilities inherent in such systems. Their ritualistic process of cutting, weighing, stamping, and packaging each piece emphasized the routines that often sustain functioning models of governing common-pool resources.