Macguffin, the publication celebrating anonymous design objects

Macguffin is a publication for the fanatic, each issue celebrating a design object that often remains anonymous. Previous issues have investigated the bed and the window, but the third considers the functional and artistic use of the trusty rope. It explores “the fascinating life of the object that binds together pieces of furniture, K2 climbers, redneck cars, Japanese eggs and Mars rovers”.

The incentive for the third issue began with editors Kirsten Algera and Ernst van der Hoeven realising how under appreciated the rope is. “As far as we’re concerned, ropes and knots have seldom received the attention they deserve on art, design and crafts platforms,” they explain, “even though they are the very things that keep everything together”.

The issue is split into three chapters, each dissecting the object and its use. The first displays the use of rope across platforms including “biennale curators, post-punk designers and bondage-loving connoisseurs”. The second identifies the use of a key companion to the rope, the knot, presenting “an array of knots that are both functional and fabulous”. Finally, the last chapter is the weave, the appropriation of rope that has become a cultural identity, bringing together, “the pioneers the dreamers and the idealists who want to weave a new future”.

As a publication Macguffin teaches an audience. It combines fascinating editorial features, considered design and creative art direction through photography that encourages the reader to delve into a fresh new subject.