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A blank piece of paper is the starting point for so many ideas,
so much creativity. For Paul Cocksedge, one of the UK’s most
electrifying designers, this ‘canvas’ itself becomes
the work of art for a one-day installation at the prestigious Victoria
and Albert museum. Hand-formed from 300 curvaceous pieces of Corian®,
the multi-talented material that has inspired original thinkers
worldwide, ‘Gust of Wind’ imagines that a stack of paper
has been caught on a zephyr and lifted skywards to float on the
air.
The event is part of this year’s London
Design Festival and the V&A’s Friday Late programme, which
takes place on the last Friday of every month and features a highly
popular ‘design giveaway’. Accordingly, Paul has conceived
a Gust of Wind as something that is at once ephemeral and will also
enjoy a second life once it is dismantled and freely distributed
at the end of the evening. Each of the 300 pieces of Corian®
has been formed in a way that not only envisions wind-blown paper
when in suspended form, but which will also serve as a functional
paper tray for those lucky enough to take one of the pieces away.
“I wanted to create something visually
striking that captured a passing moment of beauty,” says Paul,
“but something which could then also be appreciated after
the moment had gone. I chose to translate the idea through Corian®
for several reasons. I was really interested in looking at and understanding
the inner values of the material.”
“Because of its solidity and durability,”
he continues, “it is often perceived as something heavy and
permanent, much like the marble and stone statues at the V&A
– and I think of Corian® as a comparable modern equivalent
to those materials – but it also has a lightness and I was
attracted to its free-flowing formability. The fact that I could
work it by hand and twist it just like a piece of paper was very
appealing and allowed me to connect with its ‘human’
properties.”
Gust of Wind will be on view from 6:30pm to
10pm for one night only and will be dismantled toward the end of
the evening. Each of the ‘signed’ pieces is CNC engraved
and has a
unique number, making the ‘Paul Cocksedge
Ideas Tray in Corian®’ a very collectible limited edition.
The Friday Late event at the V&A on September 24th promises
to be one of the highlights of the London Design Festival!
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