Connexion 2000 - Residency with n t l

the brief

To create a celebratory artwork which captures the spirit and atmosphere of 2000 and ntl as a company. Engage the management and associates of the company, where possible, in creatively exploring the company's brand values: inspiring, perceptive, pioneering, dependable and vibrant to create a work of art specifically for the new ntl headquarters on the edge of the Fens.

the design process

As part of the research and development of the work I spent time within different departments of ntl to get an overview of the key aspects of the business. I used images of the natural worId alongside other objects and forms as prompts to explore visual representations of the company's brand values and their relationship with their customers. Using these, I was able to informally discuss ideas with staff to establish key themes.

In coming up with the final idea for the work I have focused on imagery that explores the visual connections between the natural and the manmade worlds. I have juxtaposed plans of the ntl network, diagrams of the technology, and photographs of equipment alongside images of river networks, plant diagrams and structure in the landscape for example. I have been thinking about connections, communication, networks, nodes, light, ripples and flows, clusters and channels, roots and routes, fibres, transfer of energy, transmission.

Trying to find a solution that discusses both the essence of ntl and the visual connections I have established I also looked at the five brand values in relation to these themes. This is a brief summary of some of the ideas I have thought about.

The site of the new company HQ at Waterbeach is a former water park that still preserves the watery landscape. This particular environment and the characteristics of the Fens in general have also influenced the final piece.

To develop my ideas further I explored combinations of forms through quick sketches and simple collage techniques. These have then been developed into three dimensions using card maquettes. At the same time I have considered the location of the work within the new building. I fed into the design process criteria to enable the artwork to integrate and work with the physical characteristics of its site.

the design

The accumulation of ideas has resulted in two wall-based panels located in the staff breakout areas. Each one is designed to fit perfectly within their space, facing out through the dramatic curved glass wall to the water below. They each measure approximately 2m x 0.8m

Each panel features an embossed aluminium foil background with tensile fabric forms that project out into the space - casting shadows and reflections in response to the changing light source through the glass wall.

Fabricated from 2mm steel plate clad with soft grade aluminium, the linear background texture has been created to imply a watery landscape/ network alongside a technological network. The network is punctuated by padded nodes, revealing the fibres within.

The structures project from the backplates using 16 guage aluminium tube, each is fixed with a spiggot and grub screw fixing. The tensile fabric is constructed by layering and sandwiching different colours by heat bonding to gain depth and variation without altering the form of the overall piece. The bulk of the fabric is rip-stop nylon, commonly used as a kite/sail fabric. Chosen for its physical characteristics and light-fastness, it also adds further reference to the site and its water park connections.

The colours have been chosen to work with the corporate interior furnishings of the spaces and also to aid the communication of ideas in the artwork. One panel is predominantly muted blues and purples to work with the lime green colour scheme, the other uses lime greens and blues to work with the purple colour scheme. Each has elements of the others colours to form further connections between the two panels, and has flashes of intense colour showing through the muted areas to add visual contrast.

I aim to create a dynamic intervention in the space bringing variation to areas that are used by staff at different intervals every day. One piece reflects the technology on the landscape, the other reflects the landscape on the technology, highlighting the relationship that ntl as a company and technology in general has with the environment. The combination of forms in the two panels sum up the spirit and energy of ntl, in their new location, at the turn of the millennium.

May 2000