OC London has been a hive of artistic activity over the past few days, with London-based set designer Robert Storey taking over the store's installation space to create Folded Reflections Suspended—the second piece in his series Exploration in Space. The three rotating sculptures continue Robert's investigation into impossibility, balance, and perception. OC London's Shawana joined Robert at his studio, where he talked her through the creative process behind the piece, before spying the in-store installation process.
Shawana Grosvenor: OC last interviewed you in July 2012, when we opened the pop-up store in Covent Garden; you were doing your best American accent! What have you been up to since then?
Robert Storey: That was not a good American accent—it was a weird Australian accent! Since then I've been working on projects continually. I went to New York and met your lovely team there. And I've continued working on film collaborations with Quentin Jones—a few of our projects were released recently and we've got another one coming out soon.
Can you talk me through the inspiration behind Folded Reflections Suspended?
It was conceived from the still life work that I'd been creating already, especially the work I did for Twin Magazine using impossible shapes. It was that, combined with the Patternity sculpture's "wood origami" (using wood in a way that makes it feel more malleable than it really is) and the ideas of wood intarsia and color theory. Josef Albers has been a really big inspiration for this project and for the constant themes of geometric shapes, color, and boldness in my work.
I can see you've been hard at work in your studio. What’s your favorite power tool in your kit?
It’s my Festool, my plunge saw. It’s basically my prized possession! I only bought it about six months ago and it's really changed everything. It's hard to explain how important tools are; the quality of a tool makes such a difference in the outcome of a product or sculpture. It’s so precise and it cuts so smoothly, it’s amazing. My Festool plunge saw––I'm obsessed with it!
I loved the sculpture piece you exhibited at the Patternity exhibition back in April. Could you explain how the work at OC London is a continuation of this clean, graphic aesthetic?
Playing with wood origami, slicing wood up, and making it feel less hard. With the Patternity sculpture, I wanted it to be really well made and feel considered; that has become really important for me when I'm making sculpture. With the Patternity sculpture, I spent a lot of time cutting the angles perfectly and making sure it fit together. I like to think of them as puzzles in a weird way.
What's your creative process when designing for a brief?
I guess it depends where the brief comes from and how strong the brief is. Some are very open, and in those instances the process is about going back to the original aesthetics of my work. So it's about trying to be true to what I do, and then making something a bit different.
I'm constantly researching––taking inspiration from things and recording them. I think because of this set-design practice in my work, we just come across weird new stuff&n
Shawana Grosvenor: OC last interviewed you in July 2012, when we opened the pop-up store in Covent Garden; you were doing your best American accent! What have you been up to since then?
Robert Storey: That was not a good American accent—it was a weird Australian accent! Since then I've been working on projects continually. I went to New York and met your lovely team there. And I've continued working on film collaborations with Quentin Jones—a few of our projects were released recently and we've got another one coming out soon.
Can you talk me through the inspiration behind Folded Reflections Suspended?
It was conceived from the still life work that I'd been creating already, especially the work I did for Twin Magazine using impossible shapes. It was that, combined with the Patternity sculpture's "wood origami" (using wood in a way that makes it feel more malleable than it really is) and the ideas of wood intarsia and color theory. Josef Albers has been a really big inspiration for this project and for the constant themes of geometric shapes, color, and boldness in my work.
I can see you've been hard at work in your studio. What’s your favorite power tool in your kit?
It’s my Festool, my plunge saw. It’s basically my prized possession! I only bought it about six months ago and it's really changed everything. It's hard to explain how important tools are; the quality of a tool makes such a difference in the outcome of a product or sculpture. It’s so precise and it cuts so smoothly, it’s amazing. My Festool plunge saw––I'm obsessed with it!
I loved the sculpture piece you exhibited at the Patternity exhibition back in April. Could you explain how the work at OC London is a continuation of this clean, graphic aesthetic?
Playing with wood origami, slicing wood up, and making it feel less hard. With the Patternity sculpture, I wanted it to be really well made and feel considered; that has become really important for me when I'm making sculpture. With the Patternity sculpture, I spent a lot of time cutting the angles perfectly and making sure it fit together. I like to think of them as puzzles in a weird way.
What's your creative process when designing for a brief?
I guess it depends where the brief comes from and how strong the brief is. Some are very open, and in those instances the process is about going back to the original aesthetics of my work. So it's about trying to be true to what I do, and then making something a bit different.
I'm constantly researching––taking inspiration from things and recording them. I think because of this set-design practice in my work, we just come across weird new stuff&n