SPACE November 2025 (No. 696)
Exhibition view of ‘The first Gold is Green’. ©Kim Bokyoung
A solo exhibition by Fernando Laposse is on show at The Page Gallery. The exhibition title, ‘The first Gold is Green’, borrows from Robert Frost’s 1923 poem Nothing Gold Can Stay. The poem, which speaks of the impermanence and preciousness of nature, connects closely to the themes that Laposse has long committed himself to exploring. Born in Mexico, Laposse is a designer known for creating furniture using natural fibers derived from materials such as corn, agave, and avocado— ingredients that immediately evoke Mexican cuisine. His work reflects an intention to preserve alternative ways of life, local communities, and biodiversity in the face of rampant global consumerism. In practice, he has collaborated with small farms in southern Mexico that have been marginalised by industrial agriculture and global trade policies, seeking to help to revitalise those rural economies. Because his art furniture relies on labourintensive production methods, it allows farms to maintain low yields. This enables collaborating farmers to continue practicing milpa, a traditional Mesoamerican intercropping method in which corn, beans, and squash are cultivated side by side, helping to sustain soil fertility over time. Laposse also works with local vendors in Mexico City’s traditional markets, who sell guacamole, by repurposing discarded avocado peels into material for his designs. Through such collaborations, his practice demonstrates how design can serve as a tool for addressing local social issues and sustaining communities. The exhibition runs until Nov. 2.