22 birdhouses come home to nest in “Dwellings” at …

The exhibition was curated by Computer Room, a studio-sharing trio of Andu Masebo, Charlie Humble-Thomas and Jesse Butterfield. They worked closely with Ollie Olanipekun, founder of Flock Together, who launched a birdwatching group for people of colour in 2020 that has since grown into a collective working to promote greater inclusivity in how we experience and enjoy outdoor culture. The results will be on display for two days only in the Orozco Garden and the Clore Studio at the South London Gallery.

Dwellings is a fascinating premise that reveals far more than meets the eye. From glass to photography, from data to ceramics, from reliable wood to bulky ancestral talismans, here we experience the meaning of the slippery word “design” in a multitude of variations, held together by the parameters of an extremely simple brief. The various imaginings delve into concrete and abstract answers; from one to the next pretty, poetic, profound and superficial. We are asked to think about human intervention in shelters; about changing migration patterns caused by climate change; about the harms and possibilities of urban habitats; about our own inherited assumptions about what a shelter or a nest might represent.

It’s far more than a collection of birdhouses. It’s a testament to the rich and restless new generation of designers who are using design as a tool to question and explore, not just address, the overwhelming state of change we find ourselves in. The exhibition reveals the depths of design and builds bridges between fields and cultures. It’s just a shame it’s only on for two days. One hopes it takes off and rests somewhere else a little longer so more people can enjoy it. With that in mind, we spoke to Andu Masebo of Computer Room and one of Wallpaper’s Future Icons to find out more about the project.

Andu Masebo on “Dwellings”

Wallpaper*: Before we get to the birds, tell us about Computer Room and the community business you built near your home.

Andu Masebo: My studio mates Charlie, Jesse and I have been thinking for a long time about how we could work together. Although we have separate practices, our minds are connected and we often share similar ideas, even if the processes and expressions are different. Computer Room was created as a space for us to explore collaboration.

B*: Was it the same spirit of joining forces that you wanted to use for Dwellings?

AM: In short, yes – we live in London in a network of interesting, talented makers and thinkers with many different practices. Dwellings came about as a way to run a project that brings different people together to express their own ways and forms of implementing an idea.

B*: Do you share the love of birds?

AM: We love birds but it wasn’t so much about the subject matter as it was about the idea of ​​the object – the birdhouse – which is a nice visual cue to take up conceptually. The birdhouse is an object but also quite a complex idea when you delve into it. A birdhouse is a shelter for an animal that is not a human and not even a mammal. It taps into our relationship with nature, our desire to observe, protect and use animals and of course considers how we are rapidly affecting our natural world through climate change. We worked closely with Ollie Olanipekun, founder of Flock Together. Ollie was excited about our idea and had contacts at the South London Gallery, so it felt like a perfect marriage of different bodies.

B*: How did you manage to address such a broad group with one briefing?

AM: Our brief was very short and deliberately open. We said quite literally: “a birdhouse”. We didn’t say “design a birdhouse” because we wanted people to think about the idea of ​​a birdhouse and respond to the concept from their own practice.

B*: Great. And that probably provoked a variety of very different reactions?

AM: We have 22 different artists and designers in the exhibition, with a whole spectrum of materials and approaches, from conceptual to provocative, to production-oriented and more sculptural prototypes. Each participant has explored their own practice, and the range of reactions is therefore really interesting. The birdhouse is a bridge between different people’s visions and ways of working.

B*: So would you say that the exhibition is less about housing birds and more about showing how broad the subject of design can be?

AM: As designers, we are in the world looking for ways to create original and relevant work and that is a lifelong challenge. What is most interesting to us is the diverse practice and response of design, which shows many different ways in which design can be applied to life questions.

B*: Tell us about some of the works on display.

AM: Charlie built a house for a particular species of bird that is in danger of extinction. Jesse built a nine-nest metropolis for one of the few birds that live together. My response was to collaborate with my uncle, a trained carpenter who lives in Cork, Ireland. We sent material back and forth between London and Cork, each tackling the next step before sending it back. We didn’t talk about our interventions; we knew that the end result had to be a birdhouse. It’s a beautiful reflection on our relationship: we are close but separated by space, and things often go unsaid.

B*: How poetic. What do you hope people take away from the show?

AM: This type of exhibition has the potential to do several things. On the one hand, we want to bring the discussion about nature and human interaction with it to the forefront. We are dealing with something seemingly trivial, but in a profound and very diverse way – this is an interesting entry point for discussions about where design could be relevant and interesting as a lens for looking at different areas of life, and whether we can be helpful in that area.

B*: Will birds be present?

AM: We could plant some seeds to attract a visitor or two!

Apartments
31 August – 1 September
Orozco Garden and Clore Gallery of the South London Gallery.
65 Peckham Road, London SE5 8UH
southlondongallery.org