Illuminating collaboration

playfully experimental

CLIENT: Collaboration with artist and designer John Hall

CATEGORY: Arts and Culture

PROJECT TYPE: Design and fabrication of illuminated artwork

LOCATION: Birmingham, UK

MATERIALS: Repurposed materials

PHOTOGRAPHER: Dual Works

APPROACH:

This collaboration grew from a shared aesthetic and love of colour, surface, form and pattern. It began playfully, with a series of “studio play dates.” Meeting in one another’s studio spaces, we undertook a series of experimentations with pattern and materials, drawing inspiration from surrounding studio ephemera, which played a key role in shaping each session.

John’s practice focuses on pattern and how this can transform three-dimensional forms. We are deeply rooted in materials, form, and function, as designer makers. Together, our individual approaches create a dialogue between functional art, design, craft and place.

We both share a fascination with the changing surfaces of the urban environment and with Birmingham’s fast-moving creative landscape. The work is intentionally experimental, with light playing a key role. Building on Dual Works’ participation in the Birmingham Light Festival, we explored how painted, formed, and screen-printed surfaces can interact with illumination in surprising ways.

The collaboration was shaped by John’s sabbatical from education, supported in part by an Arts Council Develop Your Creative Practice grant. This time and space have allowed him to bridge his commercial design practice with his fine art work, opening up fresh possibilities within this partnership.