Enzo Mari’s Apple (Uno, la Mela) has come to represent the opposite of what he set out to achieve. Mari believed in design socialism and wanted to create beautiful, well made things that were affordable and available to everybody.

Mari’s apple is now expensive and has become exclusive rather than inclusive.

Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, on the other hand, is available to everybody quite cheaply and it can be found everywhere. Its ideals are no less than Mari’s. Carle (1929) and Mari (1932) were born just three years apart.

This work shows what would happen if The Very Hungry Caterpillar, eating everything that it encounters, has chewed its way through Mari’s apple. Totally unaware of the cultural significance, The Very Hungry Caterpillar sees (and enjoys) just an ordinary, beautiful red apple.

A small victory for design socialism.

Mari’s Uno, la Mela was originally inspired by Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit, which is a painting Mari believed everybody could recognise and understand.

If you look closely, you can see the painting features an apple with holes in it. I wonder what or who has been hungry…