Electroanalogue |
02/10/18
Highlights and thoughts on Tom Dixons Exhibition at the London Design Festival.
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Walking into Tom Dixons studio is magical. I spent at least an hour wandering through the rooms, observing each piece from different angles, watching patterns change. I particularly enjoy his utilisation of reflections and light. The space has a beautiful feeling of luxury and calm. The juxtaposition of elegant modern designs against the Victorian industrial setting is captivating.
The Factory:The Factory is Tom Dixon’s own in-house experimental production unit. Nostalgic for his early career in London manufacturing the Factory has been set up to prototype, test and fabricate pre-production batches of Tom’s latest hare-brained schemes. With a rolling program of materials and processes being experimenting with the Factory is constantly evolving. For Electroanalogue the factory is experimenting with reconstituting electronic products and turning them inside out, celebrating circuit boards and creating functional sculptural objects. I was particularly drawn to this project, I was speaking to one of the team who pointed out the joints which served both as mechanical components and electrical connections, which struck me as being so simple but genius.
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Hyper-real:Hyper-real is an exhibition exploring digital manipulation of materiality. Leather specialists Bill Amberg Studio have collaborated with Tom Dixon, Faye Toogood, Timorous Beasties and US-based interior designers Alexandra Champalimaud and Natasha Baradaran to develop individual designs, which have been digitally printed on cow hides. My favourite were the designs which appear highly textured and 3-dimensional despite being printed on the 2-dimensional hide. I found the illusion captivating.
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Is it great design? I am unsure. I think it's cool, and very aesthetically pleasing. But that comes down to personal taste. It's design with personality, to be enjoyed by those who can afford it. Either way, Tom Dixon is a truly iconic designer...if I ever have £500 to spend on lighting, it will definitely be from his collection.
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