The Self Design Academy (EN)

Let a stranger guide you through the supermarket. This project is a collection of hundred handwritten shopping lists, gathered from the floors of Dutch supermarkets over the course of three years. The lists are as diverse as the people who wrote them – painting tiny, but vivid pictures of their author’s age, diet, personality and ethical choices. Each shopping list is a manifestation of someone’s self-established habits – however, it’s also a recipe for their lifestyle, subconsciously rehearsed and fine-tuned over the course of a lifetime. Interpreted this way, each shopping list becomes a tool for the rest of us to reshape our own everyday routine. The collection is available as a physical notepad as well as a handy online edition. Enter the supermarket and exit your comfort zone. Happy shopping!

About Jonas Ersland

Jonas Ersland (Oslo, 1991) works as a photographer and new media artist. He received his BA in Graphic Design at Westerdals School of Communication (Norway) in 2013, and his BA in Design at Design Academy Eindhoven in 2017. Jonas lives and works in Berlin.

In his work he examines human activity from a documentary point of view, covering topics like technology, identity and our impact on a constantly changing society. His work is guided by a strong conceptual connection between the story and the methodology used to document it. As a result, he works across a wide range of outputs, from online installations to video to printmaking.