A tote bag that turns into a life jacket in 15 seconds

Lifeline is a conceptual tote bag that transforms into a self-inflating life jacket in around 15 seconds.

Launched for New York Climate Week, the project was prompted by images of flooding on the city’s subway and asks an uncomfortable question: what happens when emergency equipment starts to look like an everyday essential?

The bag was created by an independent group of New York artists led by artist and creative director Philip Le Brun and artist, designer and architect Gabriela Mestriner. It is not for sale.

Instead, Lifeline uses product design and fashion imagery to make climate adaptation feel unsettlingly plausible.

Built from upcycled materials including a life vest, the orange tote opens through a central zip so it can be worn over the head. Pulling its straps activates the inflation system, turning an ordinary commuter accessory into flotation equipment.

“The overarching principle for this project is an essential that shouldn’t exist,” said Le Brun.

The idea sits in a wider creative trend of turning distant climate risks into physical objects, from raised Copenhagen climate benches to Suncorp climate resilience work.

Mestriner makes clear that Lifeline is provocation rather than product fix: “The project is not about designing a solution to flooding.”

Photography and image production by Emmett Orgass.

via Dezeen

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