The FABulous Victoria & Albert Museum

Canada-based designer Omer Arbel presented a massive, custom 28.280 chandelier stretching more than 30 meters in the main atrium. The installation was made up of 280 individual 28 Series glass pendant lamps, each of which is handmade at the Bocci glass factory in Canada. 

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/london-design-festival-at-the-v-and-a-2013/video-bocci-chandelier-installation/

 

 

The Wind Portal is a dramatic gateway constructed from 5,000 paper windmills turning in the breeze. Created by Lebanese designer, Najla El Zein, specifically for the V&A, this walk-through installation creates a playful airway, drawing wind and light into the galleries beyond.

 

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-wind-portal/

  

 

 

Ceramic Professional Practice Workshop @ The Victoria & Albert Museum

Ten participants had the fabulous opportunity to attend a two day workshop led by the sleek ceramicist, Louisa Taylor, throwing porcelain in a wonderful array of forms.  The second day enhancing their skills in throwing on the wheel and exploring methods that combined hand building and construction techniques.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/event/1782/skills-studio-ceramic-professional-practice-workshop-2950

Louisa Taylor who has been researching new techniques in this area during her six month residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum.   

The source of inspiration for her work stems from museum collections of historical dining vessels.  Louisa is fascinated by the rituals of dining and the role of tableware in contemporary dining.  Louisa creates objects for the table that aim not to prescribe specific functions but instead encourage sharing and relaxed eating; she likes the suggestion of how eating meals together can build stronger bonds/relationships within the family unit.  Each piece is thrown in porcelain and freely assembled.  Louisa's inspiration for the subtle colour palette is from the hand-painted decoration on soup tureens.  I deconstruct each individual colour and match it with glaze.  Louisa uses the content of the decoration to inform the overall composition of a piece; for example the height of the vessel correlates to the proportion of the colour in the pattern, jug forms suggest birds or figurative details.  The intention is create works that as a whole, describe the pattern from where they derived.

Louisa Taylor studied a BA (hons) degree in 3D Design: Ceramics, at Bath Spa University (2000-2003) followed by a Masters in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art, London (2004-2006).  Louisa set up her ceramic business in October 2006 and received a Development Award from the Crafts Council in January 2007.  Her studio is based in Deptford, south-east London where she produces her tableware range for shops, galleries and collectors in the UK and internationally.  Alongside making her work, Louisa is a Lecturer on the BA(hons)/Mdes 3D Design and Craft course at the University of Brighton and she is a professional member of the Crafts Potters Association and Contemporary Applied Arts, London.  Louisa is also the author of “Ceramics: Tools and Techniques for the Contemporary Maker”, published by Jacqui Small Publishing.

http://www.louisataylorceramics.com

http://louisataylorceramics.blogspot.co.uk

Victoria and Albert Museum, Entrance Hall

  

The wonderfully atmospheric entrance hall of the Victoria and Albert Museum.  These images were taken from another fabulous room: Room 141, The McAulay Gallery of Contemporary Ceramics on Level 6, full of cutting edge pieces and site specific installations.