July marks the halfway point for our Artists in Residence who are here at the V&A for six months. I went to see Digital Design Residents Rozi and Hande from The T/Shirt Issue to ask them some questions to see how everything is going.
What is your favourite item that you have found in the collections so far?
Rozi: It’s the best thing. We can’t use it because it is too small and in a case behind glass. We have scanned objects behind glass before but it’s not working this time, it is very reluctant to be scanned.
Can you show us something you’ve made that has been directly inspired by an object on display in the museum?
Rozi & Hande: Everything.
H: We were surprised how totally we worked with the items as we didn’t think we would find so many to work with.
What achievement(s) are you most proud of so far?
H: To have collected 60+ high quality scans of our favourite objects.
What are you looking forward to doing most during the remaining time you have in your residency at the V&A?
R: Time is going so fast it will be really sad when we get to the end. It feels like six months is only enough time to do pre-research and we will have to start over again, it’s like an induction period before making the bigger project.
H: There’s just so much to work with. We had to stop looking & thinking and start producing. Being here extends the possibilities to do research but we just had to stop and get to making.
How are you using your studio space? And the spaces out in the museum?
R: In the galleries it’s just us going around the objects, scans take 10-15 minutes so everything else is in the studio.
H: The studio space is different to what we usually work in. It’s interesting to have such a huge space with high ceilings but the smaller ground space affects efficiency when making.
How has your work methods changed/adapted to the spaces here at the V&A?
H: The amount of time you need to invest to realise the pieces. We reduce the pieces scanned in the museum to 1,000-2,000 polygons when before we worked with 600 – 800 polygons per piece. It is the lowest when can go without losing the original shape.
What are you working on right now?
Keep an eye on the blog for updates about The T/Shirt Issue and the exciting installation they are working on for London Design Festival.
