The Department For Object-Orientated Communication

Illustration Programme at Camberwell College of Arts present The Office for Speculative Landscapes, a dynamic illustration festival at Camberwell Space, blending workshops, performances, talks, and discussions. Reimagined as a hybrid critical-illustration studio and arts-education think-tank, the space will foster experimentation, community, and creative play.

Can objects talk? If so, what would they say and what might we say back to them? Perhaps we can imagine new worlds beyond the human?

In this workshop we will be introduced to a series of (incredible) defunct technological objects from the David Usborne collection. We will then use these objects in a variety of writing exercises that guide you through the process of inhabiting an object. Working both independently and collectively, we will assemble and perform the various object-based narratives at the end of the workshop, resulting in an improvised (and absurd) ad-hoc stage-play.

The David Usborne Collection was acquired by David Usborne over a period of 30 years. Usborne previously taught at the Central School of Art and Design (now UAL Central Saint Martins), and donated the majority of his idiosyncratic collection to UAL’s Archives & Special Collections Centre in 2015. The collection contains over 500 objects, apparatus and instruments which represent a range of disciplines and geographies. Together the collection can broadly be described as a collection of useful tools, dating from the twentieth century.

This workshop is designed for interdisciplinary researchers, educators and students with an interest in writing, performing and material culture.

This event is free and all materials will be provided.

Biographies

Gareth Proskourine-Barnett is an illustrator, researcher and educator. His work applies design fictions to speculate on unstable landscapes and the way materials embody histories. Recent projects have been presented at the V&A’s Digital Futures Symposium at the Institute of Computing in London, at The New Art Gallery in Walsall, at the REFORM Design Biennale in Denmark, and at Plan8t in Changsha, China. Gareth is currently in the final stages of his PhD in the department of Critical and Historical Studies at the Royal Collage of Art.

Zoe Buckberry is a Curator at the Archives and Special Collection Centre, UAL and a practicing artist. As part of her work at UAL, Zoe cares for and curates the object collections which include examples of design, fine art, costume, and textiles. Zoe’s curatorial practice focuses on contemporary interventions in historic archives and collections, including reinterpreting objects from a post-colonial and intersectional feminist viewpoint.

Host or Publisher Camberwell College of Arts, UAL