This is being posted extremely late as this show was held in March! Impact was an amazing showcase of collaborative work between the Royal College of Art Design Interactions department and research teams from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). All of the work was based on the interaction of science & technology with humanitarian progression. The work was all shown with display models and some working prototypes along with the statements from each team. They have an excellent website which has more information on all of this research and also about where the show is travelling. All of the text below has been quoted from the statements found in the Impact Show catalogue which was published in conjunction with the opening at the RCA.
- Phosporous Umbrella
- Urine Apron for the collection of phosphates
The above two images are from Astronomical Bodies, created by Michael Burton and Dr. Terence Kee.
“Did life on earth emerge from key chemical elements received from outer space? If so, the universe can be seen as bio-friendly and life as a natural part of the universe. If we think of ourselves as astro-biological products of galactic composition, should we continue to colonise space with life? What if we collect phospate from our urine and kidney stones, and create meteorites? These could be sent into space to seed life on other habitable planets, initiating a process of self-assembly evolution.”
- Astronomical Bodies Umbrella at the Reception
Below are images from “Cellularity” created by James King, Prof Cameron Alexander, Prof Lee Cronin, Prof Ben Davis and Dr Natalio Krasnogor.
“Is biology technology? Are we ready for industries and products based on organisms and cells? To deal with questions such as these we need a new understanding of how living and non-living things differ from one another. The Cellularity Scale is intended to be a first draft of a definition of life that is applicable in a future where we no longer ask whether omething is dead or alive, but instead, how alive it is.”
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(Below) “Pathogen Hunter” created by Susana Soares, Mikael Metthey, Prof Calum McNeil & Prof Colin Harwood.
“This design project explores how disease monitoing might change our perception of health etiquette Surveilance personnel- Pathogen Hunters- would be trained to use very particular tools to manage infectious outbreaks. But no matter how clean we are or how healthy we feel, we still carry billions of microbes on our bodies. Will we change our behavior to prevent the spread of pathogens to others? What will the consequences be for our social conventions?
Pathogen Hunters
PH Detail
PH Detail
(Below) “Fabulous Fabbers” Created by David Benque, Prof Marc Desmulliez & David Topham.
“Factories are moving away from the fringes and coming to town! Advances in micro-scale engineering point to a global-scale revolution where local, disposable factories produce high-tech good on out very doorstep. What form might this new way of ‘making things’ take within out urban landscape? from garage- workshops to circus-like structures, form street vendor stalls to vagabond encampment, these new factories could also bring back ownership of the tools of production.”
Fabulous Fabbers
FF Detail
Below is the 5th Dimensional Camera, designed by Anab Jain, Jon Ardern, Prof John Rarity, Prof Andrew Briggs & Dr Simon Benjamin
“To explore the impact this mind- blowing science could have on our sense of place and purpose in the universe, ‘The 5th Dimensional Camera’ is a fictional device that captures glimpses of parallel universes suggested by quantum physics. How might we seek to interact with these other worlds? Would we become jealous of our parallel selves? What would happen to out sense of morality if we knew that we had committed inconceivable acts in another world?”
The 5th Dimensional Camera
“Phantom Recorder” designed by Revital Cohen, Prof James Fawcett, Dr Richard Eva & Dr Stephanie P. Lacour.
“When a limb is lost, the mind often develops a phantom sensation. The phantom owner is suddenly endowed with a unique and personal appendage, invisible to others and sometimes capable of extraordinary hyperabilities. As strategies for repair ficus on practical solutions, they ten to overlook poetic functions of the body, but what if one could record and keep one’s phantom sensation, to be awoken on request?”
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“Synthetic Immune System” designed by Tuur Van Balen, Prof Richard Kitney, Prof Paul Freemont & James Chappell
“Synthetic biology’s potential to make healthcare more personal and participatory cold allow us to become out own doctors and pharamcists; constantly monitering and tweaking our body. It might even allow us to externalise our immune system by outsourcing metabolic processes to external micro-organisms. Such a synthetic immune system would be tailored to one’s genetic predisposition, age, lifestyle and anxieties.”
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“Happy Life” designed by James Auger, Prof Reyer Zwiggelaar, Dr Richard M. Turley & Dr Bashar Al-Rjoub.
“In the context of national security, invasive technology is accepted becaus the worst-case scenario would be infinitely worse. These technologies though often filter into everyday life where their application has a far more questionable presence. What would it mean to introduce such technology into the family home; when an electronic device can know more about your partner’s state than you do? Or can predict an incoming bout of misery through statistical analysis of accumulated data.”
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“Unknown Unknowns” is a project by Onkar Kular, Prof Denis Smith & Dr Moira Fischbacher. This was a beautiful project ( my favorite from the show).
“Unknown unkowns is a multimedia reasearch library for an imaginary film. The film revolves around the worst-case scenario of a mid air collision over Wembley Stadium on FA Cup Final day. The library consists of texts for auditions, location analysis and stunt coordination, as well as computer simulation of fights, supporting photographic studies and objects. The library provides a platform to probe key themes and techniques that characterise the complex nature of crisis management and risk analysis.”
Unknown Unknowns
Detail of stadium
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Last Thursday a gaping pair of ostrich-leg boots patiently awaited a recipient at the closing reception of Christian Gonzenbach’s show at Gallery S O titled “Domestic Wildlife Collection”. It was here that a discussion started earlier in the day at the RCA continued; a discussion on his theories of whales. The Swiss artist studies histories and processes, how an animal or object achieves its identity through physicality and material composition. This is done in the language of nature and animals, with the use of skins, addressing and asking questions of the interior and exterior, of material and spiritual possessions. When does an animal become and animal, and how much needs to be removed before it attains a new purpose, perhaps a functional marketable skin? What is the molecular and spiritual composition of identity?
Gallery SO, Domestic Wildlife Collection
Inside-Out Pets
Ostrich Leg Boots
Gonzenbach was recently working on a mold of a whale, coating the inside surface with a self-formulated skin of clay and plaster, painted black. While the whale would never exist, the mold became a fossil. He stated that for him whales were imaginary, that he was from the mountains, not the ocean, and since humans no longer have a (legal) trade relationship with these creatures, we justify them in our minds based on modern mythologies instead of first-hand informed practices. When whaling was a valid business, people had to accomodate themselves to this size, creating machines and tools based on a mammoth scale, solidifying their existence.
The presumption of what makes the world we inhabit as it is, remains a human condition that he investigates and humorizes. We cant possibly experience or see the instigations of all form but we wonder. It wasn’t until after attempting to recount my experiential whales, I realized that with the exception of rather small beluga whales in the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the famous, undying Shamu at Seaworld in 1993, I had never actually seen a whale in its habitat. Even on a whale watching boat off the coast of Maine, I spent hours with my parents and sisters imagining that each little white-capped wave would manifest into a fin or blowhole, to the point where it was a hallucinatory game- there were beyond doubt whales under the surface but none to be seen!
This presumption of experience is normal, and it made me assess how much of my knowledge is physically uninformed- the answer being most of it. Something as ancient as a whale is a poetic example of how severe this condition may be, and there is certainly the psychology of the oceanic unknown that renders it a beautiful example of loss. The philosophy of this thought is hundreds of books deep – my notion a miniscule particle topping an iceberg that I’ve heard is mostly submerged.
Inside-Out Donkey
Inside-Out Donkey
Gallery Detail
Stop animation of Chicken and Weasel exchanging skins
Eraser Arrowheads
Clay bear shot with gun
Meteor
Similarly to the whale mold, Gonzenbach creates his own meteors, not by sculpting a meteor but by creating the matter that would violently and gradually deteriorate a substance; Throwing rocks at clay. When I think of meteors there are massive rocks hurtling themselves towards our stratosphere, but of course I assume this is what happens, based only on the knowledge of huge blemish-like craters in the midwest and the shards of specimens in Natural History museums.
This work made me think of these two projects- which while being slightly different in conception, still represent the solidification of imaginary experience and the replication of an iconic source of greed and commerce.
Photo by Damon Winter for The New York Times
“The artist Duke Riley does some last minute work before launching his replica of a Revolutionary War-era submarine, built of plywood and fiberglass and ballasted with lead, off Pier 41 in Red Hook, Brooklyn on Friday August 3, 2007″ Quoted from the New York Times article.
Balaenoptera Musculus by Tom Sachs. Photo is copyright of Tom Sachs
“For the other installation, Balaenoptera Musculus (2006), a life-sized reconstruction of an 18-metre long blue whale, Tom Sachs took his inspiration from the whale model hanging in the ocean life hall at the American Museum of Natural History, in New York. The whale, which, for its size, Sachs calls adolescent, is made in foam core, cardboard, and white polyurethane foam, a material often used or architectural models. ” Quoted from the Fondazione Prada Press Release.
Last week London art directors Will Hudson and Alex Bec launched their fourth annual show titled If You Could Collaborate. The show featured 33 pairings of designers and artists at A Foundation Gallery, all who were given 12 months to produce across disciplinary borders. Collaboration seems to be one of those methods that for me, seemingly for the RCA, is divinely attractive. I am finding in my recent attempts that it is not always magical and I think I brought a little screen of skepticism with me when seeing this work, which for the most part diminished after considering the different approaches. Certain pieces in here seem holistic in concept, material usage, and aesthetic; Others are perfect specimens of two ideas, two ways of working that form visible hybrids of styles. Having seen the gamut of approaches I found some that were logical, expected, and others that had less refined outcomes. Either way- it seemed like the point, whichever side of the fence they landed on. This show had no shortage of conceptual depth or eye candy- definitely looking forward to next years!
There is an excellent catalog available here. Below are some images and links to both sides of the collaborations. Project descriptions where quoted are taken from the If You Could website:
“Praline have been creating brilliant design solutions for many years, from publications and branding, to websites and exhibitions. Always looking to add humour and clarity to their work, they’re not put off by the size of a project, working with both large organisations and smaller outfits, including esteemed clients such as the Pompidou Centre and Tate Modern. After meeting The Model Shop of architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, through a previous commission they decided they’d like to extend their working relationship a little further. Ending up with a new font, and physical scale models interpreting its shapes.”
Praline and The Model Shop
Detail
Ian Wright and Riitta Ikonen
Detail of Helmet
Ian Wright and Riitta Ikonen
I first saw some of Max Lamb’s work at the Johnson Trading Gallery in NYC. It happened to be a week before I was moving to London to attend the RCA and ended up finding an adjunct show in Hoxton with more of his work. I felt the piece that Gemma and Max created was an alternative interpretation to the collaborative theme. More so, it considered the circumstance of the show and took the idea of collaboration as a way of doing something site specific rather than an amalgamation of professions. Besides- herringbone is the new houndstooth.
Max Lamb and Gemma Holt
Craig Ward + Sean Freeman + Alison Carmichael
Craig Ward, Sean Freeman & Alison Carmichael
“A well-loved member of the fashion industry, Fred is a truly influential creative force. Known for making beautiful props and accessories, there’s no more solid proof of her class than knowing she’s worked on commissions for the likes of Vogue, i-D, Dazed & Confused, MTV and Selfridges as well as her own personal collections. With design studio No Days Off, she is launching the Eight Days A Week campaign, petitioning for a little bit extra time….”
Fred Butler & No Days Off
“Karl Grandin is a creative who is difficult to shoehorn. You may find him working as one half of design team Vår, as co-founder of fashion label Cheap Monday, or as a successful freelance illustrator. What you won’t find is him producing a bad piece of work. A varied portfolio, which is infused with a swagger of someone with an inherent desire to create.
By collecting familiar elements from flags, detaching them from their sources and putting them back together in new combinations, he and Dutch fashion designers And Beyond have created a new world in the form of an oversized flag.”
Karl Brandin & And Beyond
Marion Deuchars + Margaret Calvert
Marion Deuchars & Margaret Calvert
“There are a thousand words we could use to describe Rob Ryan’s work, and all of them are superlatives. Hyperbole is something we usually try and steer away from when describing artwork, but it’s tough to do Rob’s work enough justice without it. A combination of heartfelt sentiments, both beautifully depicted and exquisitely cut, confirm you’re in the hands of a true great when presented with a Rob Ryan piece.
Given a canvas to execute his work by Michael Marriott in the form of a flatpack rocking chair, the duo have produced a piece of furniture I’m sure lots of people will want to get their hands on.”
Rob Ryan and Michael Marriot
Job Wouters & Roel Wouters
This was one of my favorite pieces in the show. The team created currencies based on production and material cost. I love the idea of objects being tactilely/physically representative of their value and not just conceptually so.
BCMH + Smith & Wightman
For the first term project at the Royal College of Art we were asked to choose an object from the Victoria & Albert Museum’s new ceramic gallery, create a replica and produce an interpretation. Nearly a week after considering hundreds of objects, which are displayed in a stunning strand of spaces on the third floor, I finally landed on a French porcelain cosmetics jar, originating from a factory in Mennecy, outside of Paris in pre-revolutionary 17th century France. My initial attraction was due to its hundreds of seemingly identical flowers coating the surface. Any object oriented between the typologies of industrial production and delicate craftsmanship usually catches my eye, and this piece in particular, despite my feeling that it was too simple of an object ( which I now retract entirely), became my focus for the past 8 weeks.
Cosmetics Jar, Mennecy, France, 1755. Soft paste porcelain with hand-pressed decoration. Approx 16 cm x 13cm(left) Mennecy II, London, 2009. Slipcast porcelain, casting wax, graphite, plaster. Approx 28cm x 18cm (right)
Aside from the technical challenges I was particularly interested in the life of such an object and its user. This jar would have been part of a set, living on an impressive vanity where the ritual of beautification would occur. Both the 17th century french royalty and the bourgeois court were heavy subscribers to the cosmetics industry. Ointments and powders were used to make the skin appear more fair and white, which was a visual proclamation of the luxury of service, situated well beyond a sun-cast, agrarian means of living. Despite the privilege, cosmetics at the time used arsenic as an ingredient, which lead to skin disfigurements and fatalities.
I love that an object can possess such a dichotomy, sourcing beauty and disfigurement, and inherently also be a decorative particle of another surface. When developing an interpretation, my focus was derived from the temporal quality of cosmetics as a surface device, and how it might integrate an object abstractly with a person and their environment.
The form itself became an exaggeration of the original Mennecy jar, but now coated in a series of residual materials that will fade and deteriorate on the vase, while making marks on the person and their habitat. Consequently the object will become a record of its use, questionably more unsightly or constantly cleaner, more deteriorated or progressively beautiful with age.
Here is a visual time line of the project showing varying stages of the process.
First attempts at throwing porcelain
The original jar and lid would have first been thrown in a soft-paste porcelain on a wheel, then turned by hand to create the decorative marks and shape. The flowers are hand made and immediately applied. For my attempt I experimented with different templates to accommodate the form of the original, and also created a plaster tool to aid in the production of the flowers.
Base form with and without floral application
Original Mennecy Jar ( left) and replica ( right)
Details of the replica object
One of my earlier reactions to the form and use of decoration was to invert the expectation of flourish by creating the texture/subject/interest on the inside of the vessel. While I was also contemplating the final direction of my interpretation, I made a test study for this concept ( which was also used as a glaze test). I will definitely be developing this concept further for another project called secret fauna@ secretfauna.com
Inverted Mennecy with hand applied flowers and horses. Hard-paste porcelain. Approx 13cm x 9 cm
Detail
Detail
Below are some sketches that were made from the original thrown forms which began to dictate the forms of the final interpretation. These were thrown spontaneously and after living with them in my studio I began to see them as small sketches of how I might go forward.
Thrown sketches
This led to more refined forms turned in plaster for casting.
3 form developments in plaster
Porcelain Casts
Porcelain casts and color sampling
Porcelain casts
When considering materials to coat the surface of the vases, I experimented with colors and textures that I felt had a notion of cosmetics and that historically related to objects and object-making. One of my first thoughts was to use red wax because it reminded me of the body, blood & femininity. It also works as a nod to lipstick & rouges. I was very attracted to the residual quality of wax, in that despite the color, if you are to touch it, you end up repelling other kinds of matter, rather than obtaining a visual mark. Contrary to that I also started testing graphite mixed with binders, which makes it a bit harder and slightly less transferable, reminiscent of an eyeshadow or pencil. Finally I tested plaster with different gradients of tint, to reference a finely pressed powder.
Porcelain sample dipped in wax
Tinted plaster swatches and porcelain samples dipped in plaster
Porcelain samples dipped in varying consistencies of liquid graphite
Final prototypes:
Slip cast porcelain with wax, plaster and graphite coatings
Graphite and plaster transfer
habitats
Detail
Here is an article about the renovations of the new V&A ceramic galleries:
http://www.septemberindustry.co.uk/?p=2985
The Anish Kapoor exhibit: