#mike smith studio

[mikesmithstudio]

Come with us on a Field Trip to visit Mike Smith Studio! Discover how large scale sculpture and design pieces are created on our field trip. Our tour includes an exploratory tour of the fabrication space, demonstrations and a close up look at the equipment, tools and processes. Our field trip guide is studio manager Elly, who will give an introduction to design fabrication & be on hand to answer your questions. *NEW!* Thanks to our event partner Tent London we have complimentary tickets for all Field Trippers to design show Tent London (worth £10). Hurrah! How do I get there? The nearest train station is North Acton or West Acton (central line), both are approx. a 20 minute walk away.The 440 bus also stops nearby and limited car parking is available. What should I bring with me? Flat shoes and curiosity! Unfortunately no photography will be allowed on this trip, due to the sensitive nature of work being produced. How do I get my Tent London ticket? We have paper tickets to give out during the Field Trip. What is Field Trip about? Field Trip is a series of public tours taking you behind the scenes of London’s hidden design workshops, small factories and micro-manufacturing spaces. It is an independent fringe event taking place during the London Design Festival (21st - 27th September 2015), organised by Just Got Made. We are proud to support the Maker Revolution! Where can I contact the organiser with any questions? Please email Helen - [email protected] More about Mike Smith Studio Mike Smith Studio (MSS) is a design and fabrication facility that has been uniquely instrumental in realising contemporary works of art, design and architecture since 1989, producing a series of remarkable creative and experimental works. For more information about Mike Smith Studio visit: http://www.justgotmade.com/mike-smith-studio

There’s just a few hours left to get tickets to come on a studio tour! See what we’re making at the moment - from gallery pieces, to large internal decorative items and a few bits and bobs for Paris Fashion Week!

Grab a ticket, come along and Wednesday, and have all your questions about Art Fabrication answered, at a Design Week Fringe event - Field Trip, from Just Got Made.

[mikesmithstudio]

We have just completed this project for Lambeth Council/Paola Piglia - figures on the columns at the entrance to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.

Paola Piglia designed the two figures - a man from the modern day, offering a flower to a woman in 18th Century dress - to show a link between the Pleasure Gardens’ past and future.

They now stand on top of two cast pillars, 18 metres tall, and look like drawings against the sky, with their delicate outlines.

We had the outlines laser cut and folded the connecting steel plate ourselves, to fit the profiles. We then welded them up and had them galvanised and powder coated before a team went to the Pleasure Gardens and installed them.

(Pictures courtesy of Paola Piglia)

[mikesmithstudio]

We created this model for Knight Dragon, depicting the Greenwich Peninsula, London, which is currently being redeveloped.

The model base is made from rubber-coated MDF, with high density foam buildings and CNC cut plywood making up the London skyline and Canary Wharf area.

The Peninsula itself has a range of different materials, depicting different buildings. From dichroic film on perspex in stainless steel frames, to Travertine, cedar wood, Lego, preserved moss, brass and cast polyurethane resin.

We created each piece of the model in our studio, and also made two sets of aeroplanes, spinning on stainless hoops, powered by slow-speed motors, to reflect the nearby London City Airport. We also depicted the Greenwich Cable Car, made with brass-clad steel for the two stations, and scaled-down cars hanging from a stainless steel wire. The motor section for this is in the lower station, and the tensioning gear is hidden in the upper one, some 6.5 metres from ground level.

The zinc-plated signs inform viewers of the area they are looking at, and the red neon light-tubes pick out the path of the running track which winds through the site. The parkland is picked out in moss, and two London Underground trains run from the Canary Wharf section into the Greenwich section of the model.

The model was designed by DRS, commissioned by Knight Dragon, and is free to view every day in The Hub, on Peninsula Square, between North Greenwich tube station and the O2 Dome. The building is shared with NOW gallery.

[mikesmithstudio]

The studio has been working flat out this summer, creating this 50 sq metre model of Greenwich Peninsular, ready for the unveiling of the new plans for development.

We created the 'land' from rubber coated MDF, and the viewer walks through the model as if they were in the Thames.

The skyline of London is created with Plywood cut outs of some of London's most famous landmarks and icons, whilst the buildings of Canary Wharf are created from high density foam coated in rubber.

The peninsular is a riot of colour and materials, as each zone of the development is picked out in a different material. From glass to brass, dichroic film set into stainless steel to Lego bricks. We've cast resin, we've welded and soldered, we've all had fun with Lego and model trains and moss, and we've made and wired lit zinc signs. Then, to finish, neon picks a path through the model, representing the running track which will wind through the development.

The model is on display to the public now, in the Gateway Pavilions, just outside North Greenwich tube station and across the plaza from the O2 Dome.

In the same building is London's newest gallery - NOW gallery is currently showing SImon Heijdens' new work 'Shade' - LCD film on the gallery windows changes as the wind blows, projecting the sunlight into the gallery in an ever changing pattern.

Tom Dixon's Design Research Studio designed the piece, for Knight Dragon, the developers, and it was made by Mike Smith Studio in our new workshop in West London.

[mikesmithstudio]

Join the hunt!

The Faberge Big Egg Hunt New York is on - can you find all the eggs, scattered around New York?

And more importantly, can you find the one produced by Mike Smith Studios, for Leyla Aliyeva?

Miss Aliyeva provided the studio with her original art work, and we then adjusted it to wrap around the 3 dimensional egg, and meticulously hand painted every detail.

We also cut out the shapes of the flowers, and crafted a translucent red perspex piece to fit each one. We then made an LED 'light pole' and fixed it into the centre of the egg to give an even glow. The flowers jump from the design even in daylight, giving the monochrome design a real hit of juicy colour.

A final coat of laquer, and off went the egg, from our studio in West London, to somewhere in Manhattan...here's a clue - it's Upper West Side!

This egg is available to buy in the auction, at the end of the hunt.

[mikesmithstudio]

Sebastian Bergne - stools for the Ambiente Trade Fair, Messe Frankfurt 07 - 11 February 2014.

Once again, Mike Smith Studio work in collaboration with Sebastian Bergne - this time to create a set of stools, which double as magazine racks.

Each stool is made from Valchromat - a wood fibre panel made with organic dye, with one face of each stool covered in green Formica. This matches the colour scheme for the Trade Fair.

We used our CNC router to cut each piece, laminated the green panels, and then built the stools by hand.

[mikesmithstudio]

Steve McQueen - 'The Lynching Tree' -2013.

'The Lynching Tree' is a photographic still by Steve McQueen. First exhibited at Basel in 2013.

It depicts a tree which was used to hang slaves from, and was shot on location of his new film 'Twelve Years A Slave'.

The image of now-peaceful woodland belies the brutality which once took place in the spot. The graves of slaves who died there surround the tree.

At Mike Smith Studio we make light boxes from steel, aluminium, MDF, non-reflective polycarbonate and complete all the electrical wiring. This piece is going to a private collection in America, so is dual rated for 240v/110v.

This image is brought to life by the lighting behind the colour transparency. The greens are fresh and bright, and it almost feels as if you're looking out of a window, not at a still image at all. We make light boxes for various clients, in any size, shape and material required.

This is the latest in a list of collaborations between MSS and Steve McQueen, including various other light boxes and  'Queen and Country'.

[mikesmithstudio]

The End of the Year is Nigh!

We're rapidly heading for 2014, and the workshop has been incredibly busy for the past few months. We've been producing samples for people, as well as tackling a couple of large projects.

As the photos show, we've been working with casting resin, brass, copper and steel - as well as continuing our production of panels for painters.

So, the new year will bring the end of some of these projects, but new ones are waiting to take their place. Our new website should also be up and running soon, and will include an in-depth look at some of the projects we've worked on recently.

So we wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a great New Year, from all at Mike Smith Studio.