Stephen Willats

'We think of the shopping bag as a highly personal extension of the self, but it is also a container of objects that reflect a person's behaviour, mostly daily routines. As part of a display of people's behaviour, it denotes the process entered into, of intention, as it accompanies thm on their travels....
Open Exchange .. is an open-ended matrix of text possibilities that can be continually developed as new people and events are encountered. Inside the bag there is a pocket containing a set of individual text letters, each backed with velcro, so that they can be easily fixed onto a large felt pad on the side of Open Exchange. In the manner of a crossword puzzle or the game Scrabble, words can be created in any direction, it being up to the imagination of the participant to see what new word is possible with the letter available. With aluminium strip for the handle, and black rubber cloth for the sides of the bag, Open Exchange is not only very practical for shopping, but also contemporary in appearance.'
Multiple Clothing, Designs 1965 - 1999, Stephen Willats, pub. Walther König, Cologne, 2000