Downstairs |

Ben Styles

[PROCESS] INTERTWINED

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"CASE STUDY: IRON". (2024), six speculative objects.
Each iron measures (approx) 190mm L x 120mm W x 180mm H
displayed on 2 x steel tables measuring 1830mm L x 610mm W x 890mm H (available for exhibition if required)

"[IRON] Intertwined". (2024), Video.
Duration: 7:07 (with sound)
Size: 1920 x 1080 pixels (wide panoramic format)

"[PROCESS] INTERTWINED"
Wall hanging / hanging :
- 6 x photos printed at 297 mm x 420 mm (A3)
- (up to) 4 x A0 worksheets (Syd. Design Week Workshop)
Display:
- (up to) 22 x Prototypes/Models requiring between 1.5 m2 to 2 m2 of floor or surface space
- 1 x Iron 'set lay' 500mm x 500mm

[OBJECTS] INTERTWINED was the first solo-exhibition of emerging creative practitioner Ben Styles - a body of work comprised of three works across three distinct mediums exhibited at UTS Building 2 in August of 2024. This work was developed as part of Ben’s CreateNSW Design Fellowship - Early-Career (2023), under close mentorship from Anthony Dunne (Dunne & Raby) and Powerhouse Curators, and was produced & delivered by Ben following his awarding of a Powerhouse Creative Residency (2024).

[PROCESS] INTERTWINED features two of the works; “Case Study: Iron” & “[IRON] INTERTWINED, accompanied by physical documentation of the research & ideation phases captured during the ‘Product Autopsy’ workshop (Sydney Design Week 2023), a photo-series documenting Ben’s exhibition work development (June-July 2024), and selected models & explorations from the intensive iterative-prototyping phase which informed the final six speculative artefacts that responded to the core concept, research and findings of [OBJECTS] INTERTWINED.

[PROCESS] INTERTWINED juxtaposes these hidden development phases of the creative process alongside the polished, final exhibited artefacts. The work showcases the non-linear nature of ideation and conceptualisation, celebrating how research, public critique and extensive prototyping explorations in material and form can combine to challenge and uplift concepts and creative works.

Ben is an emerging speculative designer who situates his practice in the liminal space between designer and artist. He engages audiences beyond the ‘designerly’, giving voice to all object-owners in open discussion and critique of mass-manufacture, planned obsolescence and overconsumption.

His works populate carefully researched & structured realities, where industrial design methodologies pair with playfulness and imagination to propose sustainable futures where embedding emotional durability in objects is an unquestionable requirement of the design process. His work focuses on e-waste and the most pervasive and mundane of everyday electronic objects; their design, history and our rituals and relationships with them.