Barber Osgerby's swinging, reflective installation in huge V&A gallery

Date
15 September 2014

Three years ago at the London Design Festival, the Bouroullec Brothers transformed the Raphael Cartoons gallery at the V&A by installing a huge textile-covered platform down the centre of the vast room. It became a playful, very human space in the heart of one of London’s most august institutions, and remains one of the most talked-about festival projects of recent years.

It’s an enormous space to work in anyway, notwithstanding this pressured LDF pedigree, nor the fact that because the pictures belong to the Queen, any installation needs express permission from the Royal Household. But Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby have stepped up to the challenge and created something as extraordinary, if not more so.

Double Space for BMW – Precision and Poetry In Motion takes the form of two huge reflective structures suspended from the gallery ceiling. They stretch almost the entire length of the room and take up most of the width, an impressive enough sight before they start swinging back and forth in a choreographed dance designed to “reflect and distort the view of the Raphael Cartoons, the architecture of the room and the viewer’s perception of the space."

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Barber Osgbery: Double Space for BMW (Picture courtesy of BMW)

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Barber Osgbery: Double Space for BMW (Picture courtesy of BMW)

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Barber Osgbery: Double Space for BMW (Picture courtesy of BMW)

“We are normally concerned with the shape or form of things, but this time we were interested in the experience,” Jay Osgerby told us. “It was a thrilling opportunity for us to work in this way, very liberating. I would like to do more of this kind of thing; it enhances the work we do in industrial design and it rejuvenates you to see things differently.

“We are working on the Crossrail train and it might seem like there’s not much of a connection, but it does make you think about user experience and a more emotional response to objects.”

The duo admitted it was a “phenomenal logistical feat” to bring all the materials required for the piece through the single small door into the gallery, and said they were now taking time to sit and enjoy the sculpture. “It’s whatever you want to take from it,” Edward said. “When you watch the curved side it’s like that moment when you’re lying on your back starting at the sky and you suddenly feel like you might fall in.”

And Jay thinks that LDF should be ambitious in its aims. “The LDF should make people think about the creative arts in a different way,” he said. “If you come here as a nine-year-old you would remember this for the rest of your life. Design is not just about solving problems – in fact this time we created a lot of problems – it’s also about creating experiences.”

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Barber Osgbery: Double Space for BMW (Picture courtesy of BMW)

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Barber Osgbery: Double Space for BMW (Picture courtesy of BMW)

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Barber Osgbery: Double Space for BMW (Picture courtesy of BMW)

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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