Malavika

MoMA - Only Remains Remain

Motion, print and digital design for a performance written and directed by artist Freya Powell to honour lost and unidentified migrants.
motion, multi-media, print
2018

View the project on MoMa's website


Flyer 1


In the performance, Powell uses the structure of a Sophoclean chorus to create an elegy for the hundreds of unidentified migrants who died crossing the US southern border and whose bodies were buried in unmarked graves across border states. To supplement the performance, we created three pieces: a title animation, a tabloid handout, and a short booklet –– all along similar themes. MoMA also used these pieces in digital form, paired with sound, for their online magazine.


Flyer 1

Flyer 2

The chorus in ancient Greek tragedies is a collective character that moves the narrative along and comments on action from a distance. In Powell’s work, a chorus of 15 female performers draws attention to a contemporary tragedy. Working as a companion to the performance, the printed tabloid is vertically focused with long blocks of text representing Greek columns.


Booklet –– front and back covers

An open spread of the booklet

An excerpt of Powell's notes on the performance

The pages have tight margins, and a strict grid system

The booklet was also meant to be read as a PDF online

The goal of this project was to supplement the performance in three different mediums. We stuck to a muted stone-grey colour palette throughout the different pieces to highlight the weight of the message. The minimal type treatment, tight margins, and strict grid system also reflected the emotions and feelings expressed during the performance. The slow pace of the title animation with bits of torn paper slowly and endlessly falling serves as the final piece tying the entire design system together.

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