When:
14th September – 5th October 2012
Where:
Multiple Locations Throughout Seven Dials
From 14th September, visitors to Seven Dials will be treated to a visual feast as seven of London’s brightest design artists create unique artwork to be showcased in Seven Dials. 7 Designers for Seven Dials is a collaboration between Seven Dials , Covent Garden’s shopping village and online design magazine, Dezeen showcasing seven leading designers work throughout the village in conjunction with London Design Festival. The seven designers taking part in the project are: Faye Toogood, Paul Cocksedge, Vic Lee, Gitta Gschwendtner, Aberrant Architecture, Dominic Wilcox and Philippe Malouin. The unique installations will be aerial and will sit visibly above the streets of Seven Dials, lending a whole new artistic dimension to the village.
The aerial installation artwork will be displayed throughout September, in seven different locations throughout Seven Dials. The seven designers have taken direct inspiration from Seven Dials and artwork will reflect elements of the village’s rich history, such as incorporating the old street names and featuring pennies, harking back to Dickensian times when it was known for penny washing to help stave off disease.
Marcus Fairs, Editor-in-chief, Dezeen Magazine commented: “We’re extremely excited to be collaborating with Seven Dials on this project. We are working with seven extremely talented artists who will bring the unique elements of British heritage, style and modernity that Seven Dials boasts to life in a unique way. We chose this village as the backdrop because not only does it have a truly inspirational history but it also is one of London’s true hidden gems, so where better than here to celebrate vibrant London’s design scene.”
Each of the designers is an outstanding creative artist, presenting his or her own vision of reality through their work. Below is a short overview of the installations and the concepts.
Dominic Wilcox Introduces ‘The Birds of Seven Dials’ To Neal Street
Inspired by a reference to nineteenth century Seven Dials in the book ‘Dickens’s Dictionary of London’, British designer Dominic Wilcox has created ‘The Birds of Seven Dials’ on Neal Street.
Referencing Dickens’ description of Seven Dials as a place ‘ where many bird shops and bird cage makers could be found’ , the installation will feature 20 birdcages of different sizes, shapes and designs hanging in an arch across Seven Dials’ Neal Street. Each cage is left open to symbolise the memory of the bird shops and birds long departed from the street.
Wilcox’s installation will be situated on Neal Street as part of the wider 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
Vic Lee Puts A Modern Spin on Seven Dials’ Rich History
London-based illustrator, Vic Lee has interpreted unique Seven Dials’ history in his own distinct style and created a range of bold colourful flags for the 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
Lee takes direct inspiration from Seven Dials’ rich history with each flag incorporating the old street names of the area. When Thomas Neale first designed the Seven Dials layout, each of the streets radiating from the Seven Dials sun monument had a different name. For instance, Earlham Street was called ‘Little & Great Earlham Street’, Shorts Gardens was labelled ‘Queen Street’ and Mercer Street was ‘Little & Great White Lyon Street’. Each flag represents the beauty of the old street names, and the flags cross over on Shorts Gardens and meet in the centre point much like the Seven Dials monument and the streets surrounding them.
Lee also incorporates another part of Seven Dials’ rich and varied heritage within each design. In the 1690s, Neale aimed to establish Seven Dials as the most fashionable address in London. Unfortunately, the area failed to establish itself as Neale had hoped and deteriorated into a slum, renowned for its gin shops. With this in mind, Lee’s flags have been inspired by the different types of characters that lived in the area with inscriptions such as “ragamuffins and herberts” – a nod to the shady history of Seven Dials.
Lee’s installation will be situated on Shorts Gardens as part of the wider 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
7 x 7 By British Designer Faye Toogood
Taking inspiration from the plethora of trades that have existed in Seven Dials for more than 200 years, British designer Faye Toogood has created a concept that taps into this history and visually documents the area’s transformation from a worker’s quarter to a stylish shopping district.
Hanging high above the heads of passers-by, the installation is a series of 49 outsized workers’ overcoats, representing the trades within Seven Dials that have shaped the area since 1740– from the brewer to the wig maker, the puppeteer, the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker. The 7 x 7 coats, hung on seven lines along Monmouth Street, have been hand-painted and treated with resin, transforming these familiar and comforting garments into a thought-provoking new piece of public art.
Faye Toogood’s installation will be situated on Monmouth Street as part of the wider 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
Gitta Gschwendtner Showcases Her ‘Arial Escape’ Project on Earlham Street
By the early 18 th century the historic Seven Dials area had failed to establish itself as the up market district of its developer Thomas Neale’s dreams and instead degenerated into a notorious slum. By then each of the seven apexes facing the Dial Monument housed a pub, and their cellars and vaults connected underground to provide handy escape routes should the need arise. These underground escapes become the inspiration for Gschwendtner’s overground ‘Ariel Escape’ – a surreal construction of seven ladders linking two windows on Earlham Street to seemingly provide an escape route across the road and beyond.
Gschwendtner’s installation will be situated on Earlham Street as part of the wider 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
Philippe Malouin Celebrates Seven Dials With A Bunting Installation On Earlham Street
Canadian designer, Philippe Malouin is bringing celebration to Seven Dials with a quintessentially British installation for the 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
From 14
th
September, visitors to Earlham Street will be treated to a visual display – a giant installation of bunting made from transparent PVC designed to celebrate and highlight the Seven Dials area and its landmarks. Waving in the wind and uniting to a ceiling, the sixty bunting lines do not hide Earlham Street but reveal its houses and history, leading the way to the Seven Dials monument.
Malouin’s installation will be situated on Earlham Street as part of the wider 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
Paul Cocksedge Intrigues Seven Dials’ Visitors With A Mysterious Interactive Experience
Taking inspiration from the name of the Covent Garden’s hidden shopping village, Seven Dials, internationally acclaimed British designer Paul Cocksedge has created ‘Dial’ – a witty and innovative way of interacting with the public, for the 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
The interactive installation aims to create a sense of mystery by suspending a large floating telephone number between two buildings. Intrigued by this unidentified number, curious members of the public will be compelled to ring it. As soon as they do, a celebrity voice will lead them into a visual and aural mini-adventure that’s guaranteed to put a smile on everyone’s face. Every phone call will also generate a donation to Barnardo’s, the UK’s leading children’s charity, which Paul supports.
Cocksedge’s installation will be situated on Mercer Street as part of the wider 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
aberrant architecture Bring ‘Catchepenny Quackery’ To Neal Street
For the 7 Designers for Seven Dials project, aberrant architecture have taken inspiration from Seven Dials’ varied history to create ‘Catchpenny Quackery’ on Neal Street.
The Seven Dials area was historically a hotspot for the strange practices of “The Quacks of Old London”. These notorious fraudsters pretended to professionally and publicly have skill, knowledge or qualifications that he or she did not actually possess.
Seven Dials’ resident James Catnach was the first producer and promoter of the broadsides, songs and pamphlets which circulated through the streets of eighteenth century London. They cost a penny each, hence the term ‘catchpenny’. Catnach encountered a problem because no one else would touch his coppers in case of infection springing off the metal. His ingenious solution was to boil the pennies in potash and vinegar so that they became bright once more.
With inspiration taken directly from this true story, the new ‘Catchpenny Quackery’ installation on Neal Street in Seven Dials consists of 18 large metal pennies hanging individually within a larger frame. The metallic coins feature unique symbols that advertise the ‘quack’ products and services that used to be offered historically in Seven Dials whilst simultaneously reflecting the surrounding light and movement of the area. A key at ground level will allow passers-by to decipher the symbols and learn more about these strange and extraordinary practices.
aberrant architeture’s installation will be situated on Neal Street as part of the wider 7 Designers for Seven Dials project.
More information on the project can be found online and at the Dezeen Super Store at 38 Monmouth Street, which is also where the launch event will be held, on Wednesday 19th September.
