16th September 2016

Design Undefined Q&A: Adam Blencowe & Marine Duroselle

One of the truly wonderful things about working with creative humans and their brilliant brains is that every so often they get together with other glorious creative types and bash their beautiful ideas together to form something new and, you guessed it, brilliant.

This year’s edition of The London Design Festival will feature Adam Blencowe (of Fuzzy Logic fame) and designer Marine Duroselle as they showcase their first collaborative project at Clerkenwell London as part of Design Undefined.

In combining a hacked power tool with CNC technology, Fuzzy Logic has seen Adam bring an unprecedented control and accuracy to the craft of felting. Exhibiting a unique collection of felted rugs and interior textiles designed and produced by the pair, Adam and Marine are to take over the gold-floored Fashion Room at Clerkenwell London where they will display the machine and demonstrate the making process.

We wanted to find out more from the pair about making the transition from lone wolf to duo and the role of their time as RCA students in their careers.

How did you meet and why did you decide to work on this project together?

M: We met in June 2015. I was working for Sarah van Gameren and Tim Simpson (Glithero) on a leaflet that they needed for their Platform RCA Final Show. Adam was on that platform… A few months later he got in contact to talk about his desire to make rugs and to chat about colour/patterns etc, and to see if I would be interested in sharing my expertise on that! I was totally up for it and we ended up putting this collection together.

A: After graduating from the Design Products course with the invention of a machine that effectively allows you to “print” with wool, it seemed the best approach to work with a designer focused on colour and composition. Having met Marine whilst at the RCA and seen her work, it was apparent she would be the perfect partner to further explore the potential of Fuzzy Logic.

You are both RCA graduates, what role do you think the institution plays in shaping creative industries and the people in it? How did it help you develop?

M: The most amazing thing about the RCA is all the creative people you meet while you’re there. When you finish the RCA it’s best "send off gift" is its network. You can really see its influence on the London industry and internationally, which at times can feel like a bit of an “RCA mafia”!

A: Prior to undertaking my masters at the RCA I had worked for ten years, so being given the opportunity to go back and study for two years was an incredible privilege. It was a unique experience to be able to pursue my own interests within design outside of the usual commercial confines. I could develop projects like Fuzzy Logic or indeed Thaw that found a new way of casting ordinary plaster of paris using the ephemeral property of ice. Its vitally important to the creative industries for spaces to exist that allow for this kind of work.

What has it been like working collaboratively? What are the main challenges/benefits you’ve experiences in comparison to working as individuals?

M: The best part in a collaboration is when you suddenly feel like you are complementary. And so far this is what this adventure has been like: surprising and stressful, fun and challenging, creative and tiring but super worth it!

A: To make a collaborative project successful its critical that you both understand what you bring to the table and respect that. Of course there are challenges, for example it could be catching up with your partners thinking when your still at A and they are already on B but this is the benefit too. Two minds are greater than one. Making workplaces collaborative has been a pre-occupation of commercial enterprise in recent years and there is no reason why that it should be different for designers and artists.

Do you think you will continue to work together?

A: If you find something that works I believe in pursuing it, but I try not to predict the future.

M: :)

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