08.01.2023
QUOTATIONS FROM WEB SOURCES ARE GIVEN IN ITALICS – ALL QUOTES ARE REFERENCED AND USED AS ‘FAIR USE’ FOR NON-COMMERCIAL RESEARCH PURPOSES FOR THIS BLOG TO SPREAD EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE.
Biography
He says that he has Greek and Welsh blood and that he wanted to be a pilot when he was a child, his favourite TV show is Scooby Doo and that his favourite author was Roald Dahl (who was an inventor himself – he invented a medical device and things like his own desk – Charlie and the Chocolate factory is about invention – Suneel). The artist’s favourite film is ‘The Dark Knight’. His favourite sandwich filling is Cheese and pickle.
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/20-questions-with-paul-cocksedge
Born in 1978, raised in North London, Paul Cocksedge lives and works in Hackney, East London.
His works encompass public art, sculpture and architectural installation. The artist has an interest in science, with ‘a forensic investigation into the limitations of processes, materials, and the human body’ and attention given to ‘our relationship to the Earth
The artist believes that he ‘came to art on his own terms’ which brings a ‘freshness in perspective’.
https://www.paulcocksedgestudio.com/bio
What interests me as a designer is to be open to ideas coming from any direction. I’m also always sort of interested in like, the invisible things such as electricity, and gravity and magnetism, these types of energies.
https://www.moooi.com/uk/story/meet-paul-cocksedge
The artist was once evicted from his Hackney studio which he occupied for 12 years (which was once a Victorian stable) to make way for a new property development. He created a work called ‘Eviction’ by excavating material from the floor to make furniture:
Cocksedge hopes the work will cause people to reflect on the uncertainty affecting creative centres around the world, caused by rising property prices and socio-political upheavals.
https://www.dezeen.com/2017/03/22/paul-cocksedge-mines-floor-hackney-studio-furniture-excavation-evicted-milan-design-week-2017/
How Paul Cocksedge’s Art has been Described
For Paul Cocksedge, each body of work is a vehicle for narrative, drawing inspiration from and abstracting the physical process of making. Cocksedge’s practice can be defined by a search for hidden values and properties in order to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
https://www.friedmanbenda.com/artists/paul-cocksedge/
Selected Notable Works Besides ‘Coalescence’ with Suneel’s Analysis (see links for photographs)
If you look at his works, they are each remarkable. The artist has frozen metal furniture together to join it. He has’ completed a spiral staircase featuring a garden, a library and a tea bar’ https://www.dezeen.com/tag/paul-cocksedge . He has created a table solely from a single sheet of folded metal paper. These are a few of the artworks which I found interesting and related to the themes of ‘Coalescence’
‘Please be Seated’
A rippling wave rises up to form arches for people to pass beneath, and curves under to create spaces to sit, lie and relax in Please Be Seated.
“This piece was an instinctive response to the space and the rhythm of people through it. It fills a public square and engages passersby, without obstructing the space.” – Paul Cocksedge
https://www.paulcocksedgestudio.com/please-be-seated
Suneel’s Comment – Innovation in seating and the space that it encloses, so that the area can be used for multiple purposes of leisure interaction. The design is effective because it uses shade as a resource – you can sit or lie underneath the seating. This shows the artist’s attention to changing conditions, the influence of outside influences on space and art, the play with previous structures and forms to build new dimensions in the art. The rippling wave looks like an opening flower from above – it is beautiful to behold.
‘Bourrasque Dior’
Inspired by nature and the morphology of paper, Bourrasque – which means “flurry”, or “gust” – is a free-flowing sculpture that harnesses the magic of light and electricity.
The piece conceived to mimic pages scattered by a gust of wind is illuminated and bathes the surrounding environment with light.
“Bourrasque is the representation of the power of new technology, creating a magical fleeting moment. This is an effortless yet detailed gesture, capturing electricity floating in the air. The iconic Dior boutique was the perfect environment to install Bourrasque as a permanent piece.” – Paul Cocksedge.
https://www.paulcocksedgestudio.com/bourrasque-dior
Suneel’s Comment: As with seating in ‘Please be Seated’ and the coal in ‘Coalescence’, Cocksedge takes an old form – paper – and makes it into something new with new technology. The technology casts the material in a new light, gives it a new purchase on the imagination. As with ‘Coalescence’, the piece is about the ‘power of new technology’: the new forms that it can create, the new experiences and vision (the new sculpting of the wind). Similarly, ‘Coalescence’ has to be seen as a meditation on the superseding of fossil fuel by newer, cleaner, renewable fuels and the power and the experiences that they will generate to shape the world.
‘Living Watercolour Pavilion’
Thousands of translucent glass discs are overlaid to create a three-dimensional chromatic experience that changes according to shifting sun and shade.
Each of the colours chosen for the Expo 2020 Dubai UK Pavilion comes from the flag of an exhibiting nation, expressing unity, partnership and possibility.
A sculptural centrepiece envelops visitors in colour and light, giving the sense of an ‘impossible’ structure.
“We were drawn to the idea of looking outwards for inspiration. This informed the entire architecture of the pavilion, which we designed as a sculptural watercolour that plays with the natural environment to connect with people.” – Paul Cocksedge.
https://www.paulcocksedgestudio.com/living-watercolour-pavilion
Suneel’s Comment: This beautiful and multi-coloured design which represents the unity of the nations of the world in the aegis of art explores the themes of togetherness and union that are evident in ‘Coalescence’ from its very title (which means a joining together to make a greater whole). As with ‘Coalescence’, the artist has taken single units and combined them to form something greater and impactful as art.
‘Poised’
Poised embodies the elegance and amenability of paper. Half a ton in weight, the steel table appears improbable upon investigation.
Intensive calculations into gravity, mass, and equilibrium mean the work is perfectly weighted and stable in spite of appearing ready to topple.
https://www.paulcocksedgestudio.com/poised
Suneel’s Comment: An investigation of fragility and resilience, just like the message of ‘Coalescence’ which is that the world is fragile at the moment but we can come together to make a new world of light which is resilient against any threats – even though it seems ‘impossible’ at the moment. A message of hope and the defeat of adversity – the enduring message of ‘Coalescence’. A tribute to the power of design and the artist’s imagination – the basic building block of design is the blank piece of paper, the strongest force in the human universe to create the world anew.