One thousand words

Figure. Intelligent design. Health Canada received recognition from an unexpected quarter recently: an exhibition mounted at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City entitled SAFE: Design Takes on Risk, an installation of smartly-designed consumer goods, packaging, protective devices and safety messages that reflects our contemporary preoccupation with security and risk attenuation. This anti-smoking message, one of two tobacco-package labels that MoMA selected from Health Canada's offerings, plays to the same fears as a recent Australian campaign (see pages 309-10); the other selection deals with second-hand smoke. Although the exhibit ended Jan. 2, those with a high-speed Internet connection can enjoy a virtual tour and narrated slide show at the museum's Web site (www.moma.org/exhibitions/2005/safe/). Health Canada's anti-smoking warnings keep company with a eclectic mix of artifacts ranging from bulletproof duvets to restaurant chairs designed to avert the theft of diners' handbags to flat-faced pill bottles that facilitate clear labelling. (Anyone in the field of medical error prevention take note, under the “Instructions” category in the exhibit index.) Ironically, cigarette package slip-covers that prettily hide gruesome health warnings are also included in the show. Many and artful are the ways we soothe our nerves in a scary world. — Photo by: Health Canada