Stay ConnectedIn Material Matters, host Grant Gibson talks to a designer, maker, artist, architect, engineer, or scientist about a material or technique with which they’re intrinsically linked and discovers how it changed their lives and careers.
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Material Matters is produced and published by Delizia Media Ltd.
Copyright: © 2021 Material Matters with Grant Gibson
Shelley James is a globally renowned glass artist with a fascinating tale to tell. She was ensconced in the corporate branding world – working for the likes of Imagination and Landor – before an injury to her head, sustained in a bicycle accident, completely changed her life and perspective. After a six-year (yes, six-year) period of convalescence, she decided to leave the business world behind and study printmaking. However, after a trip to the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, she became smitten with the material and has set out to push its possibilities ever since.
Always looking to collaborate with new people from different disciplines, she has worked with surgeons at Bristol Eye Hospital, physicists at Imperial College, contemporary musicians and even Sir Roger Penrose, a mathematician and philosopher of science famed for (among other things) his research with Stephen Hawking. And she has managed all this despite only scraping an O Level in Maths.
Shelley also happens to be wonderfully articulate, which is handy for a podcast like this…
You can learn more about Shelley’s work here: shelleyjames.co.uk
Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby of Barber Osgerby are renowned industrial designers who have worked for the likes of Vitra, Knoll, Magis and Flos, as well as working on installations for brands such as BMW and Sony.
In this episode the intention was to chat about the role plywood played in their nascent careers with Iskon Plus. However, we ended up chewing the fat about (among other things): meeting at the Royal College of Art and nearly being kicked out; not slagging off Richard Rogers; the 'toxicity’ of contemporary design; how the British design scene has changed since they emerged in the ’90s; the importance of collaboration; their obsession with making; and why their work definitely, definitely isn’t ‘Blair-ite’.
En route we also go into detail about the creation of the Olympic torch for the 2012 Games, the thinking behind their revolutionary Tip Ton chair for Vitra, and their recent On & On stacking chair made of recycled plastic for the US manufacturer Emeco.
You can learn more about Jay and Ed’s work here: barberosgerby.com
Corinne Julius is a London-based journalist, broadcaster and curator who was born into design.
In this episode we discuss the history of her family firm, Hille, which revolutionised British furniture design after the Second World War, pioneering work from the likes of Robin Day and Fred Scott; her difficult time at the Royal College of Art and why she eventually felt compelled to leave; how she fell into journalism; and her introduction of craft to Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
Importantly too, we examine her curating work, which includes the Silver Speaks: Idea to Object exhibition at the V&A and Future Heritage, her annual showcase of cutting-edge craft and design at the high end interiors show, Decorex. For good measure we also touch on the relationship between art, craft and design, and the importance of thinking through making.
I think it’s safe to say that Corinne had some reservations about doing the interview but (I reckon) that the finished result is evocative and really rather personal.
Sebastian Cox is a young London-based furniture designer, who founded and co-directs his eponymous company. He is renowned for his use of traditionally coppiced hazel.
In this episode he talks about his ambitious new manifesto, Modern Life from Wilder Land, that sets out a more sustainable future for food production in the UK.
We chat about how we need to radically shift the way we use land; reducing our reliance on meat; how our woodlands need to be more effectively managed; and why design is a political act. Oh and we also discuss his issues with sheep and going to the gym.
Not only that but we also unpick his relationship with timber; the importance of coppicing to his practice; the pressure of making a bespoke desk for a certain Sir Terence Conran; his more recent experiments with mycelium; and his love of Northern Soul.
You can find out more about Sebastian and his company here: sebastiancox.co.uk
Barnaby Barford is a London-based artist and satirist. He has work in the collections of the V&A, Crafts Council and The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina.
He initially came to prominence with work that often turned the mirror onto contemporary culture. In this episode he talks about his relationship with the material that brought him to prominence, ceramic.
However, that’s only the start. Because he also discusses his feeling that he never quite fits in; his fascination with the British class system; why he creates pieces to understand the world around him; his desire to make life difficult for himself; and how his hatred of shopping spawned the extraordinary Tower of Babel installation that wowed crowds at London’s V&A in 2015.
We also hear plenty about his current obsession with the apple and his 2019 show at the David Gill Gallery, MORE MORE MORE. It’s an interview that manages to be both personal and wide-ranging.
You can learn more about Barnaby and his work here: barnabybarford.co.uk. While the link to his gallery is here: davidgillgallery.com.
Laura Youngson Coll is an artist and sculptor based in London. In this episode we talk about her relationship with vellum. Historically the calf’s, or goat’s skin, has been used to write on. The Magna Carta, for example, was inscribed on it as, for centuries, were the laws of this land. However, Youngson Coll, who has featured in Jerwood Makers Open and was shortlisted for the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize in 2017, manipulates the material to create extraordinarily intricate art works.
Her pieces have been inspired by lichen and the 19th-century biologist Ernst Haeckel. However, her most poignant work came in response to the death of her partner Richard from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
She discusses her background; coming into contact with vellum for the first time; how it changed her art; and why the material allowed her to make sense of tragedy. A little like her sculptures, it’s delicate, poignant, emotional and moving.
You can learn more about Laura and her work here: laurayoungsoncoll.co.uk
Andrew Waugh is the co-founder of award-winning architecture practice Waugh Thistleton. In this episode we discuss why he decided to design tall buildings out of wood – or cross-laminated timber to be precise.
In a wide-ranging conversation he lays out in no uncertain terms the issues the construction industry faces over sustainability, what it needs to do to avoid environmental calamity, and how CLT can provide some of the answers. En route he touches on the perceptions of the material and worries around wooden buildings post-Grenfell.
Not only that but he also explains how growing up in Milton Keynes led to his fascination with cars (he’s the proud owner of an electric one now); ponders on why he was such a lousy student; unpicks the influence British Library architect Sandy Wilson had on his career; and remembers what it was like designing hyper-fashionable bars and clubs in Shoreditch during the ’90s, while finding time to hang out with a generation of artists that became known as the YBAs.
There’s some important stuff in here. You can learn more about Waugh Thistleton’s work here: waughthistleton.com
Bethan Laura Wood is a London-based designer, who creates pieces for industry and the collectible market. In this episode she talks about her love for the material that made her name nearly a decade ago – laminate.
A wide-ranging (and occasionally hugely intimate) discussion touches on the Royal College of Art graduate’s fascination with turning the ubiquitous into the precious, as well as focussing on her love of colour.
However, she also tells us about her childhood growing up a little bit different in Shrewsbury; how being teased at school encouraged a sense of style that she has described as ‘Buckaroo meets Russian dolls’; and why her dyslexia may have encouraged a fascination with pattern.
We also hear about her mother’s collection of fake fruit, which can’t be a bad thing. It’s a fascinatingly personal story from a genuinely unique design talent.
You can learn more about Bethan and her work here: bethanlaurawood.com
Han Ates is the founder of the London-based craft jeans company Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, whose mantra is to ‘think global but act local’.
During our interview we discover what it was like leaving Istanbul for London in the late ’80s; how he started his career in clothing on the floor of his uncle’s factory as a presser; the problem of running his own business; and why he became disillusioned with the world of cheap fashion and decided to open his own restaurant instead.
That all happened before he started his small but perfectly formed company in Walthamstow that not only wants to make the best jeans in the world but is also attempting to persuade consumers to rethink how and why they buy things. Blackhorse Lane Ateliers employs local machinists and offers shared ownership to each employee. Its factory building also houses craftspeople working in artwork restoration, fashion design, weaving, and even contains a pop-up restaurant.
It’s wonderful stuff that encompasses the importance of repair and how memory can be stored in the materials we wear.
You can learn more about Blackhorse Lane Ateliers here: blackhorselane.com
At the time of recording Deyan Sudjic was the co-director of the London Design Museum. Although he has since stepped down from that role he remains a prolific author, essayist and curator and has been one of the most important figures in British design since the early ’80s.
Over the course of our chat we touch on an array of subjects, including: becoming an Oz Kid in the ’70s and the obscenity trial that ensued; growing up with his Yugoslavian parents; why he was a useless architecture student; starting Blueprintmagazine from his Docklands flat; taking over the Design Museum in difficult circumstances; and the decision to move the museum.
After controversy over allowing an arms dealer to use the space for a corporate evening, we also talk about how our arts institutions should be funded in the future. It is by turns eclectic, insightful and fascinating, from one of design’s most important voices.
You can learn more about the Design Museum here: designmuseum.org
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