THINGNESS EXHIBITION AND SYMPOSIUM

THINGNESS

Exhibition & Symposium and Limited Edition publication April 2011

Maiko Tsutsumi and I were invited to propose an exhibition for The Camberwell Space

Featured Artists: Neil Brownsword /// David Clarke /// Michael Marriott /// Gareth Neal /// Jasper Morrison

The Question: What role does ‘the materiality of things’ play in our relationship to the objects we create and consume?

Introduction: There is a renewed interest in what the act of making does to humans and our understanding of the object’.  Makers and designers are at a point of reflection: re-evaluating our sensitivities to objects and materials.  The exhibition and accompanying symposium reflect on how objects come to be and how the making of an object affords it ‘a voice’.  Selected works by five artists and designers explore people’s relationship with objects through materiality and the making process.

 

Building on Camberwell College’s reputation for ‘making’, the exhibition proposes to create a dialogue around notions of ‘the maker’, ‘the making process’ and ‘the material’. The symposium will facilitate an exchange of ideas between designers, theoreticians, makers of objects, curators, art and design historians, anthropologists, educationalists and material scientists around the theme of ‘Thingness’.

Co-curated by Karen Richmond and Maiko Tsutsumi  Publication designed by Camberwell Press


 

 

 

 

 

 

Panel discussion with the 2011 Jerwood Makers Open artists Heike Brachlow, Keith Harrison and Emmanuel Boos, chaired by Karen Richmond and Maiko Tsutsumi.  Maiko and I co-chaired ‘Jerwood Makers Open’ discussion on 18 July 2011 you can watch it here 2011 Event,, part one

Thingness is supported by Camberwell College of Arts, Camberwell Press and CCW Graduate School

The show is also accompanied by a limited edition booklet published by Camberwell Press, which is available to buy from Camberwell Space, The South London Gallery, Review, Marcus Campbell and Book Art Book Shop.

Published: 19/04/2011

V&A CONNECTS

CURATED EVENT : AN EVENING OF HEAVY METAL,  Tue 19 April 2011, Sackler Centre V&A London

The contemporary metal design and making industry were discussed with like-minded creative practitioners, students and professionals. Tickets were available through the V&A website.

The evening consisted of:

  • An overview of Galvanize Sheffield by Sara Goodwin, Festival Director: A festival showcasing the work by contemporary metalwork and the history of Sheffield metalwork
  • Expert demonstrations
  • Show and tell session by Nick Wright of  Ernest Wright and Sons on scissor making and the challenges facing the trade
  • Presentations by Richard Abdy Director of Wenworths Pewter  detailing the process of working with designers as a manufacturer
  • A talk by Keith Tyssen on a commission for Wentworths inspired by David Mellor
  • View a temporary display of work by Camberwell College of Art students in collaboration with Wentworth Pewter
  • Demonstrations and a talk by hot forge silversmith Brett Payne
Published: 11/04/2011

WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF PEWTERERS

EAGLE WING BOWL

Pewter Live 2011, The Worshipful Company of Pewterers, Pewterers Hall, The City of London, UK

Pewter Live is a yearly event held at Pewterers Hall in The City of London, Michael Hurley and myself exhibited designs along with the 3D Design Camberwell students.

This project was in collaboration with Wentworths in Sheffield, we made a visit to their workshops to discover how pewter has been crafted since 1949.

Published: 11/04/2011

Beijing Master Craftsmen

BEIJING MASTER CRAFTSMEN VISIT LONDON

APRIL 2011

The University of the Arts London hosted a delegation of 27 master craftsmen and 6 government officials and directors of cultural institutions.

I was invited to host and co-ordinate their 5 day visit.  The programme involved presentations from Will Bridge, Amanda Bright, the  British Council, The Crafts Council and visits and presentation at The Design Museum, Contemporary Applied Arts , Cockpit Arts  and was hosted at both the V&A Sackler Centre and Chelsea College of Art, UAL

The visit was initiated by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy, the Information Technology Urban Industry Department and the Beijing Arts and Crafts Association.

The aim of the visit was for the delegates to understand how traditional crafts in the UK have formed a relationship with the contemporary market place. We hope to develop this relationship in the future.

 

 

 

 

Published: 25/04/2010

PhD Research The Bartlett UCL

Between 2007-2009 I engaged in research around emotions and design at the UCL under the supervision of Dr Penelope Haralambidou and Jonathan Hill.

abstract:

Working on the premise that objects that we live by; spaces that we live through can be viewed as ‘open and unfinished’ transporting us to unusual and ordinary places within our conscious and subconscious minds. A recent review of my work described the experience of the participant as ‘like sitting on a park bench on a sunny day, without the park or the bench’. Is this narrative the product? The ‘absence and presence’ in Bachelard’ Poetics of Space creates a dialogue around the conscious and unconscious narrative of familiar spaces.  While George Perec relates multiple memories of place through the everyday objects he lives through. Here is an extract on ‘the bed’:

“All I need to do, once I am in bed is to close my eyes and think with the minimum of application of a given place, for the room to become instantly back into my memory in every detail [description], the almost physical sensation of once again being in bed in that room.”[1]

The objects that we surround ourselves with can have quite fantastical narratives attached. Akiko Busch in her book The Uncommon life of Common Objects[2] takes a light look at how ‘everyday objects acquire their significance through everyday use’[3] The vegetable peeler leads to stories of lessons on how to apologise. And people are remembered when putting away food in small plastic containers designed by Morison Cousins. However these fantastical stories rarely seem to originate from the intentions of the designer.

 

[1] George Perec Species of Spaces and Other Pieces Penguin Classics London 1997

[2] Akikio Busch, The Uncommon life of Common Objects, Metropolis Books 2004

[3] The Uncommon Life of Common Objects Akiko BuschMetropolis Books 2004


Published: 23/10/2009

CRAFT LAB: CRAFT COUNCIL COMMISSION

DIP AND GROW-CRAFT LAB – ORIGIN 2008

Collaborating with Fabiane Lee Perrella of FLOUR

Dip and Grow- Craft Lab was an evening of experimental mass participation at Origin, Somerset House and commissioned by the Crafts Council.  People were invited to take part in a dip coating lab- kitchen to transform blank objects into vibrant, colourful things.  Craft Lab was a celebration of a process both industrial and handmade and succeeded in creating an experimental ‘domestic dip coating’ event bringing dip coating to the masses! (well: people at Origin anyway)

Dip coating is well known as a mass manufacturing process that takes place in industrial units behind closed doors, rubber gloves are a good example of this process. The intention of this project was to play with the process and bring it to a hands on situation. Through an open kitchen laboratory environment. People learned through doing and it was fun!

People experienced an immediate process where blank objects became colourful.  Craft Lab was a celebration of process, people and play in order to make industrial processes accessible.


Published: 15/09/2008

BEST STAND ND

Awarded the ‘Best Stand’ at New Designers, Business Design Centre, London 2008

Published: 13/07/2008

BERGEN (ABC.cd) Arts Bergen Camberwell.ceramic dialogue

Arts Bergen Camberwell.ceramic dialogue (ABC.cd), a collaborative project between researchers at Bergen National Academy of the Arts, Norway (http://www.khib.no/khib_en), and Camberwell College of Arts London, 2008. The group met in Bergen (May) and London (October) to debate aspects of hybrid practice in a series of open and closed workshops. Bergen National Academy of the Arts: Kari Skoe Fredriksen, Richard Launder, Jorunn Veiteberg, Caroline Slotte, Oyvind Suul; Camberwell College of Arts: Oriana Baddeley, Amanda Fielding, Karen Richmond, Richard Slee.

 

Published: 13/05/2008

TATE TAKE OVER: 600 Periscopes

TATE TAKE OVER: 600 PERISCOPES

We (3D Design) were invited by Raw Canvas at The Tate Modern to create an evening of design for people to participate in, celebrating making, here’s what happened:

here’s a film of 600 periscopes

 

the whole Tate Takeover event 2008

Tate Takeover 2009

Published: 13/04/2008

EXHIBITION- RESEARCH PROJECT BARTLETT, UCL

10th April 2008

PhD Research Exhibition and Symposium in the Gallery of the Bartlett University College London

featuring a selected objects from the Galton Collection, 600 persicopes and a film of 600 periscopes in use at the Tate Modern Tate Takeover

Inspired by a story I was told about Galton who used to carry a box around London with him, to get a better view.

The Galton Colection is housed at the University College London, here are a small collection of his ‘Hyperscopes’

UCL’s Galton Collection comprises the scientific instruments, papers, and personal memorabilia of Sir Francis Galton F.R.S. (1822-1911). The collection has around 500 objects and it is housed in College’s Department of Biology. It is a popular resource for researchers, for schools, and also for members of the public with an interest in the history of science.

Published: 10/04/2008