Frame201903-04

Literally and figuratively,

professionally and privately,

PAUL COCKSEDGE seeks

calm among the chaos.

Words

ANNA SANSOM

Portrait

ANDREW MEREDITH

9.00 a.m.
PAUL COCKSEDGE: I arrive at my studio
in Hackney, East London, at around nine,
after strolling through the park and getting
my juice drink. I consciously chose to live
nearby to avoid commuting and being caught
up in London’s hectic pace. We’ve been in
this space since 2004. Winning the Bombay
Sapphire Glass Prize when I was at the Royal
College of Art enabled me to move here.
When I arrive, I turn right into the studio’s
workshop, where people start earlier. Seeing
the electrics, lights and sparks gets me going.

9.30 a.m.
Images and pictures of our Asian projects
come in on WeChat. These include Breathe,
our recent interactive installation for Estée
Lauder Companies’ breast-cancer campaign
in Shanghai’s new Xintiandi Plaza. I presented
an idea about till receipts. Customers went
into a small glass box, scanned the QR codes
on their receipts and printed long pink strips,
which they held up and watched float away.
When lots of people did this, it created a kind
of kinetic sculpture inside the box.

11.00 a.m.
We have a meeting to discuss our projects
and to look at the latest models and docu-
ments relating to suppliers and contractors.
An example is our installation for the new
Cos store at Coal Drops Yard in King’s
Cross, London [pictured]. The prototype we

Rock, Paper,

Sculptures

presented to Cos corresponded to conver-

sations we’d been having over the last few

years. Our installation, Orbits, occupies the

store’s six outwardly-facing windows. Based

on light, gravity, nature and rocks, it’s a series

of six natural rocks that are suspended from

stainless-steel and LED hoops. A lot of my

previous light pieces were static, but these six

circles of light have been stretched into flexi-

ble shapes using different rocks with different

weights. There’s a stillness to it that creates a

silent moment in a busy public space.

1.00 p.m.

We either walk to Tempesta Coffee, which

does an incredible dahl dish – walking

keeps the focus on the creative day, whereas

driving can be distracting – or to the E5

Bakehouse, a ‘live performance’ bakery that

lets you see where the food comes from.

E5 resonates with the design community’s

desired connection with materials, where

they’re from, where they end up and the

story behind the object.

2.00 p.m.

I might find an email from Friedman Benda,

my New York gallery, sent at 6 a.m. their

time. Part of our business is limited-edition

pieces that channel a different part of the

brain. We zoom into materials, technologies

and processes, pushing the limits of pos-

sibility with beautiful, precious objects that

haven’t been made before.

We’re also making a permanent 14-m-high

sculpture that’s due to be installed outside a

new public library in Norman, Oklahoma, in

May. It’s one of our first permanent art pieces

on this scale. We entered a competition, and

amazingly we won. Our idea grew out of a dis-

cussion about flat sheets of paper being rolled

and curved, reflecting on paper’s thinness

and flexibility. From a distance, it’ll look as if

it’s suspended in the air. Upon closer inspec-

tion, an intricate structure becomes apparent.

Unlike in the studio’s early years, when we

experimented intensely without knowing

where we’d end up, now that we’re beginning

to make pieces for public spaces, budgets and

engineering demand that we get things right.

3.30 p.m.

I’ve started working with a London gallery,

and it’s nice to be able to cycle there for a

face-to-face meeting. The discussion – in

which we ask ourselves about the object of

a project – is the most important thing for

limited-edition design pieces. I enjoy paus-

ing momentarily before embarking on the

next stage.

5.00 p.m.

A lot of our projects are self-generated.

Showing someone a rendering on an iPad

might lead to an installation for Milan. In

the calmness of late afternoon, new ideas

emerge that make us excited about what the

next day will bring.

6.00 p.m.

I try to go to as many gallery openings and

talks as I can, because they’re occasions

to network and perhaps to bring an iPad

picture to life. If I don’t have an event, I stay

at the studio until seven. ●

Together with Swire Properties, Paul Cocksedge is

designing the VIP Lounge for Art Basel Hong Kong,

which will take place from 29 through 31 March

paulcocksedgestudio.com

A DAY WITH 61