#ldf '11 part two

the second exhibition at london design week was lux craft at origin. i was very excited to have been one of ten artists who work with light selected from 280 applicants to exhibit at lux craft.

the piece i created for the exhibition was an extension of light matter an installation i made earlier in the year. admittedly with hind site it may have been a little ambitions given the tight installation schedule, but i've never been one to be content with an easy life. the piece, white on white, was to be two sections of white neon, intersecting 10 suspended porcelain spheres. the two sections loosely entwining as they descend from above as if dancing. setting my goals just higher than i should usually serves me well (if you don't count the sleepless nights) but on this occasion the combination of ambitious new work, complicated hanging system, rushed install all amounted to breaking one of the sections of the piece.

these things happen. when you work with a fragile material such as glass and neon, you have to develop a pragmatic approach to breakages... and make plenty of spares. on this occasion though, i could have done with spares for my spares.

through my work i am interested in combining the seemingly fragile with the seemingly robust to question the definition of strength and permanence. it can sometimes walk a fine line between working and not. it's great when it does work, but when it doesn't you just have to learn from it and keep going. white on white was certainly a steep learning curve and i think i've just about ironed out the glitches, so that next time it's perfect.