Material Matters with Grant Gibson – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Artist Bharti Kher was brought up in England before moving to India almost on a whim in the early ’90s. Since then, she has established herself as a major player on the international art scene. 

Her sculptures talk about women’s place in society and the female body. She has a fascination with mythology and mixing the real with the magical, as well as a profound interest in materials and found objects. She has melted down bangles, used saris, and ceramic figures, as well as casting people with plaster. But she’s best known for her work using bindis, made from felt. 

And she will be using bindis to create a huge piece on London’s Southbank, which opens in September. Right now, she has a wonderful exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, entitled Bharti Kher: Alchemies, which shows a range of pieces from 2000-2024.

In this episode she talks about: using things she finds – from radiators to bangles; how objects have inherent narratives and why she ‘exhausts’ them; the importance of bindis; breaking things; her fascination with negative space; casting people in plaster; growing up in Epsom and loving art from a young age; travelling to New Delhi on the toss of a coin; and being married to a fellow artist. 

And remember the Material Matters fair takes place at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 18-21 September. It's free for trade but you must register in advance here: https://registration.iceni-es.com/material-matters/reg-start.aspx

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Oliver Heath is a designer, architect, author and one of the world’s leading advocates for biophilic design. Along with his team and the sustainable platform Planted, he currently has an exhibition at the Roca Gallery in South London, which focuses firmly on bio design – illustrating what it is, why it’s important, and how it can be used in the spaces we inhabit. 

Oliver has been a fixture on our TV screens since 1998, working for the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel Four, the Discovery Channel and Norway’s TV2. He is a regular on DIY SOS and was, of course, one of the designers on the iconic ’90s show, Changing Rooms.

In this episode we talk about: his fascination with biophilia and how it affects his practice; its core principles and history; why sustainability is about more than counting carbon; problems with architecture education; his issues with clay; the importance of evidence in his design approach; how wood effects the heart rate; being average at school; getting famous on Changing Rooms; reinventing himself professionally… and the importance of soup. 

And remember the Material Matters fair takes place at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 18-21 September. It's free for trade but you must register in advance here: https://registration.iceni-es.com/material-matters/reg-start.aspx

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Florian Gadsby is a bit of a phenomenon. The ceramicist currently has a new show at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and has also published a memoir, By My Hands, that charts his formative years with clay, including apprenticeships in the UK and, most intriguingly, Japan. 

Essentially, it unpicks his route to becoming a fully, fledged professional potter, while at the same time, providing tips about his thinking and process. 

Since he started on Instagram a decade ago, Florian has built up a social media following that can only be described as formidable. He’s part of a generation that has changed the way pots, in particular, but craft, in general, can be communicated, using Instagram and YouTube as educational tools but also as a hugely effective channels for selling work. 

In this episode we talk about: what his studio says about him; his YSP show; selling ‘merch’; being young to publish a memoir; comparing writing to pottery; his fascination with the colour green; going to a Steiner school; deciding against university; his love of mugs and the joy of repetition; his apprenticeship in Japan; resisting the tag of the ‘Instagram potter’; the pressure of social media; and wanting his own apprentice (eventually). 

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Han Ates is the founder of the London-based craft jeans company Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, whose mantra is to ‘think global but act local’. 

During our interview we discover what it was like leaving Istanbul for London in the late ’80s; how he started his career in clothing on the floor of his uncle’s factory as a presser; the problem of running his own business; and why he became disillusioned with the world of cheap fashion and decided to open his own restaurant instead. 

That all happened before he started his small but perfectly formed company in Walthamstow that not only wants to make the best jeans in the world but is also attempting to persuade consumers to rethink how and why they buy things. Blackhorse Lane Ateliers employs local machinists and offers shared ownership to each employee. Its factory building also houses craftspeople working in artwork restoration, fashion design, weaving, and even contains a pop-up restaurant.

It’s wonderful stuff that encompasses the importance of repair and how memory can be stored in the materials we wear.

You can learn more about Blackhorse Lane Ateliers here: blackhorselane.com

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At the time of recording Deyan Sudjic was the co-director of the London Design Museum. Although he has since stepped down from that role he remains a prolific author, essayist and curator and has been one of the most important figures in British design since the early ’80s.

Over the course of our chat we touch on an array of subjects, including: becoming an Oz Kid in the ’70s and the obscenity trial that ensued; growing up with his Yugoslavian parents; why he was a useless architecture student; starting Blueprintmagazine from his Docklands flat; taking over the Design Museum in difficult circumstances; and the decision to move the museum. 

After controversy over allowing an arms dealer to use the space for a corporate evening, we also talk about how our arts institutions should be funded in the future. It is by turns eclectic, insightful and fascinating, from one of design’s most important voices. 

You can learn more about the Design Museum here: designmuseum.org

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Kate MccGwire is an award-winning sculptor whose installations have been shown around the world, including Harewood House in Yorkshire, The Harley Gallery at Welbeck, Messums Wiltshire, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida and Galerie Haas AG in Zürich. 

In 2018 she won The Royal Academy of Arts, Jack Goldhill Award for Sculpture.

In this episode the Royal College of Art graduate talks about her fascination with feathers. Not only that but during the interview we also unpick her profound interest in mythology, water and the human body, discovering how they have become threads through her sometimes dark but always extraordinary pieces.

During a remarkably frank interview the artist discusses how she only realised she was dyslexic in her late-thirties; what it was like growing up in Norfolk; her decision to drop out of interior design and become a fine artist; her close relationship with the pigeon keepers that provide her raw material; and why her pieces have nothing to do with taxidermy…

You can discover more about Kate and her work here: katemccgwire.com

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Peter Ting is a ceramic designer, art director and the co-founder of gallery Ting-Ying. In this episode he talks about his life-long relationship with Blanc de Chine, to coincide with a new installation on the material that opened at London’s V&A Museum in 2019. 

And it transpires he has quite a bit more to say too. 

We discuss growing up in Hong Kong and moving to an English public school at the age of 16; how he discovered clay in the first instance and why he decided to work in Stoke-on-Trent. Not only that but he explains the craft behind manufacturing and how you can ‘hear’ if a factory is working efficiently.

 Arguably most importantly, he discusses identity and an epiphany he had at a crossroads in Shanghai that led him to re-discover his Chinese heritage. Also did you know that his father used to be Bruce Lee’s dentist?

You can discover more about Peter and his work here: peterting.com and Ting-Ying can be found here: ting-ying.com

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For this episode Material Matters travelled to Paris to chat to up-and-coming designer Marlene Huissoud about her relationship with propolis (or bee glue) – a substance made up of wax and resin that bees collect from vegetation and use to seal the honey frames inside their hive. 

Working the material a little like glass, the Central Saint Martin’s graduate has created a series of cooly dark, vaguely threatening, vessels as well as a number of other objects. 

During our chat we discuss what it was like growing up with her beekeeper father in the Alps; coming to study in England; why she decided recently to leave London for the French capital (in a word, Brexit); the reasons behind her decision to train as a nurse; creating pieces from her kitchen; and what she’s up to at during the 2019 London Design Festival.

You can find more information on Marlene and her work here: marlene-huissoud.com

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Tom Dixon is one of the biggest names in design with ‘hubs’ in New York, Hong Kong SAR, China, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

In this episode we sat down in his King’s Cross complex to discuss his days welding scrap metal into pieces of baroque furniture but we got into quite a lot more besides. There’s his appearance on Top of the Pops, for example. And the time when some furniture he’d produced for shoe designer Patrick Cox fell apart at a dinner party. We hear what London used to be like in the ’80s and why he might have been the bass player for Pink Floyd. 

He also talks about his decision to join Habitat, setting up with his eponymous brand, and the importance of food to his practice… as well as answering the biggest question of all: what exactly is the scent of Tom Dixon? You’ll have to listen to find out…

To learn more about Tom go to: www.tomdixon.net

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Adam Nathaniel Furman is an artist and designer based in London. His work has been exhibited in Paris, New York, Milan, Rome, Eindhoven, Minneapolis, Portland, Kortrijk, Tel Aviv, Veszprem, Mumbai, Vienna and Glasgow as well as his home city, and is held in the collections of the Design Museum, Sir John Soane’s Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Abet Museum, and the Architectural Association. 

He has also played a fundamental role in the recent re-appraisal of post-modernist architecture and has become an advocate of the need for colour in our built environment. Importantly too, over the years he has built a huge following on social media through his witty, trenchant and occasionally downright controversial posts.

This episode took the ‘critics’ slot’ in series two and covered issues such as: the Notre Dame blaze and the importance of heritage; queer aesthetics in architecture; reviving post-modernism’s reputation; the problem with unpaid internships... and his profound love of Nando’s. 

To describe it as wide-ranging would not be doing it justice. To find out much more about Adam and his brilliantly colourful work here: adamnathanielfurman.com

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