“Objects and Users: Demanding Interaction,” Paul Cocksedge, designer, Paul Cocksedge Studio, UK

“OBJECTS AND USERS: DEMANDING INTERACTION,” OCT 23-24, LJUBLJANA
Paul Cocksedge, designer, Paul Cocksedge Studio, UK

Paul Cocksedge Studio is the well-known design practice of partners designer Paul Cocksedge and manager Joana Pinho. Based in London, it undertakes in-house design, accepts commissions and occasional consultancy work for an array of clients and sectors. Production ranges from bespoke manufacturing to licensing technologies. The Studio continues to build a strong portfolio of pieces and projects, united by the studio’s individual approach to design.
Studying under Ron Arad at the Royal College of Art, Cocksedge was introduced to Issey Miyake and Ingo Maurer, both of whom staged early exhibitions of his work. With his own show at Milan Design Week 2003 together with his ‘NeON’ lamp winning the Bombay Sapphire Prize, he founded the Studio near London Fields.
Cocksedge now lectures in turn and has exhibited around the world, and is a member of the 100% Design event (London) advisory panel. The studio’s client roster includes London Design Museum, Droog Design, Museum of Arts and Design, Swarovski, The Bombay Sapphire Foundation, Trussardi Spa, and the Victoria & Albert Museum (permanent collection).

The relationship between objects and their users is present in many of Paul Cocksedge’s pieces, playing a central part from the inspiration stage through to the final design and execution outcome, paying particular attention to the materials, form and technologies employed.
As regards function, Paul was initially drawn to light, where he experienced a feeling of emancipation from the constraints of gravity. These suspended works include ‘Styrene’, ‘NeON’, ‘Crystalized’, ‘Sapphire Light’, ‘Veil’, ad even ‘Light as Air’, where light is visible in the lower setting yet its focus is upward.
He also employs a certain sense of tension, favouring work that simultaneously is what it is and yet ought not to be. His “logically constructed illogical constructs” might be ‘Watt?’, illuminated by the stroke of a pencil; the ‘Bulb’, activated with a fresh flower; ‘NeON’ fired by single-core cabling; ‘Pole’, with its bright light without heat; and both ‘Private View’ and ‘Veil’, where everything is invisible to the eye, naked or direct respectively.
His ‘The Wellcome Trust Window’ on the Euston Road, ‘Private View’ and ‘Veil’ are among recent installations both lasting and fleeting; for the German Financial Times he recently produced festive wrapping paper. His aesthetically compelling designs continue to instil a sense of wonder, quietly demanding interaction and a place somewhere in our thoughts.

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