Inspired by British neo-classical architect Sir John Soane’s eccentric approach to collecting, London based architect Mat Barnes and contemporary artist Harry Lawson have collaborated on a quirky commission for the John Soane’s Museum. Exploring the ‘relationship between architecture, objects and time’ the pair have designed and curated three cabinets filled with obscure contemporary objects.
Architect Barnes, who founded his studio CAN in 2016, designed the cabinets for the exhibition as vessels of expression in themselves, just like Soane’s characterful house punctured by lightwells and bespoke adaptations across three terraced houses. The museum is a life-sized cabinet in itself packed with a veritable feast of sculptures, paintings and busts.
The first cabinet is a façade, the second a scaffold, the third a tomb representing the three concepts of the cabinets (All that was; All that is; and All that could have been). Each is a testbed for materials, aesthetics and techniques – from a cheap crackled paint surface, to beautifully buffed scaffolding pipes, or recycled car tyre chippings set in flexible resin and painted matte blue on the outside and black gloss glitter inside. Believe it or not, Barnes is using the latter technique in his house extension too.
The three cabinets display redundant objects of the past, obscure representations of the present and totems of an unrealised future. Barnes and Lawson sourced some of the curious keepsakes from their own personal collections – top-drawer treasures found, pocketed, forgotten and preserved. While some objects are borrowed from the Soane collection.
You’ll find a set of false teeth, a World Trade Center group admission ticket stub, a fragment from the Soane Ante-Room skylight removed in 1991, a Casascius Bitcoin, a spray-painted softwood block and a model of three cork columns available to purchase at the Soane Museum shop.
In our eagerly streamlining digital world, data storage seems infinite whereas our homes are only getting smaller. There’s humour and a powerful nostalgia in this collection of contemporary objects, archiving into history at a quickening pace.
INFORMATION
‘All that could have been: a project by CAN and Harry Lawson’, at Sir John Soane’s Museum; 16 January – 16 February 2020
soane.org
can-site.co.uk
harrylawson.co.uk
ADDRESS
Sir John Soane’s Museum
13 Lincoln's Inn Fields
Holborn
London
WC2A 3BP
-
Pierre Yovanovitch’s set and costumes bring a contemporary edge to Korea National Opera in SeoulFrench interior architect Pierre Yovanovitch makes his second operatic design foray, for The Marriage of Figaro in Seoul
-
The best hotels in Hong KongFrom sky-high glamour to intimate design sanctuaries, here's our pick of Hong Kong's finest stays
-
Stay in a Parisian apartment which artfully balances minimalism and warmthTour this pied-a-terre in the 7th arrondissement, designed by Valeriane Lazard
-
Showing off its gargoyles and curves, The Gradel Quadrangles opens in OxfordThe Gradel Quadrangles, designed by David Kohn Architects, brings a touch of playfulness to Oxford through a modern interpretation of historical architecture
-
A Norfolk bungalow has been transformed through a deft sculptural remodellingNorth Sea East Wood is the radical overhaul of a Norfolk bungalow, designed to open up the property to sea and garden views
-
A new concrete extension opens up this Stoke Newington house to its gardenArchitects Bindloss Dawes' concrete extension has brought a considered material palette to this elegant Victorian family house
-
A former garage is transformed into a compact but multifunctional spaceA multifunctional, compact house by Francesco Pierazzi is created through a unique spatial arrangement in the heart of the Surrey countryside
-
A 1960s North London townhouse deftly makes the transition to the 21st CenturyThanks to a sensitive redesign by Studio Hagen Hall, this midcentury gem in Hampstead is now a sustainable powerhouse.
-
Manchester United and Foster + Partners to build a new stadium: ‘Arguably the largest public space in the world’The football club will spend £2 billion on the ambitious project, which co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has described as the ‘world's greatest football stadium’
-
An architect’s own home offers a refined and leafy retreat from its East London surroundingsStudioshaw has completed a courtyard house in amongst a cluster of traditional terraced houses, harnessing the sun and plenty of greenery to bolster privacy and warmth
-
The museum of the future: how architects are redefining cultural landmarksWhat does the museum of the future look like? As art evolves, so do the spaces that house it – pushing architects to rethink form and function
