Paul Cocksedge -
Excavation: Evicted
Fondazione Luigi Rovati
Friedman Benda presented British designer Paul Cocksedge’s
latest project in collaboration with Beatrice Trussardi. Excavation: Evicted was shown at the site of
Fondazione Luigi Rovati, which will become the city’s first private Etruscan
museum. Excavation: Evicted is a physical and visual
reaction to Cocksedge’s eviction from his London studio due to property development.
The place the acclaimed designer has spent twelve years in, building his
career, has been mined as a direct source for a new body of work.
Beatrice Trussardi and Paul Cocksedge
“Celebrate and release the tension and creative energy that’s shaped the
space.”
Paul Cocksedge
Cocksedge
drilled down into the studio’s floor to excavate material that he then transformed
into five distinct furniture pieces. Each of these works documents,
commemorates and preserves not only his own time in the location, but the
building’s own history.
“Intended as the last creative work to come out
of the space, the pieces celebrate London’s reputation as a home for creativity
– a status that is increasingly under threat as artists are displaced from
their studios by property developers and rising rents. By creating pieces from
the very fabric of one of London’s disappearing creative spaces, I hope to
remind of the transient nature of both creative workers, and the places they
inhabit. My Hackney studio will also accompany me to my new workspace, in the
form of a work made from retrieved material.”
Paul Cocksedge
Paul Cocksedge - Excavation: Evicted
Not just a
response to his situation, the project echoes socio-political and cultural
upheavals affecting many strata of contemporary society across the globe.
Creative life in London, one of the world’s great metropolises and cultural
centers, is acutely affected by increasing property values. Coupled with the
uncertainty of Brexit, it mirrors other cities where the global movement into
urban areas is forcing change in daily life.