Alexa Chung Discovers How To Create Art with Light | Forces for Change

Intro [gentle music] - [Alexa] Hi, how are you? - Hello, Alexa. All the better for seeing you. So what have you got planned for us today? - So it's really cool. I'm gonna be talking to the UK's leading artists. They're forces for change in art. So whether that's innovation, community, environment, I'm gonna explore their studios and try out what they do. We're gonna start with this incredible duo who make these beautiful installations of glass and light. So I'm actually gonna learn how to blow glass. - Oh. [glass hissing] - I might make you something and bring it back. - Please do, I need things for the house. - Oh, perfect, okay, I'll try and work on a vase for you. - Yes, please a vase will be great. - Okay. [gentle music] - Schuster and Moseley, Interview thank you so much for having me here. Firstly, where are we? - We are in our studio where we compose different pieces. If it's for a more residential space or for an architectural space, we'll always do a hanging and look at how the light interacts with glass. - If it fits. Sometimes it's too big to hang here. - Where do you get your inspiration from? - You know, we are always interacting with informational light, the screen, the phone, this kind of- - Yeah. - Program, like we wanted to sort of break that apart and give a new dimensional experience of light to generate a kind of atmosphere. - What are some of your favorite shapes and materials to use? - [Edward] The lens form fundamentally, which is everywhere. - The UFOs? - The UFOs yeah, or satellites. The lens is a sort of archetypal object really, being able to look into micro world and look into the cosmos and understand what the composition of reality is. - [Alexa] What's going on here? - Here we're just experimenting with how you can use these devices to play with light. And how to kind of open light up. - Yeah, - Its spectrality. - And so a lot of these lenses have come out of other equipment that you've found or where are the cameras coming from? - A lot of it was collected from my grandfather's collection and then I sort of amalgamated over the years on my own, and I started deconstructing the camera equipment. So taking out the lenses from both the cameras, but also from the enlarger in the dark room and then creating these photographs. That was actually where we started using the lab equipment was just to hold the lenses in place whilst I created these photographs. So I wanted to bring it into installation work. So that was when I started playing with having a light source that was separate, a lens that was separate and then the body becoming part of that interaction. - [Alexa] What can you tell us about this beautiful piece? - So this is one of our light mobiles. And so we take a light source and we kind, of tune and puppeteer the lenses to create these kind of spectral projections. Very fine movements in the glass can really change this projection. So we end up kind of creating like a painting with light. - So we actually start with the glass blowers by exploring the kind of form of the lens. So we integrate flat edges and more ripples, trying to experiment how the lens is gonna interact Glassblowing with the light. - Okay, so what's this wonderful boiling hot room? - Oh, so we've come to the hotshop which is where we make glass with James and Katie. - [Alexa] And there they are. Hello, I'm Alexa. - I'm Katie, nice to meet you - So nice to meet you. I love your shades. - Thank you. - They're so cool. Is that like a fashion choice for Vogue or is it some sort of- - Absolutely purple spring down here. - I wish. - Okay. - I wish. - They're like, "Okay we've got Vogue today guys, let's get glasses on." So are you gonna show me how to make some glass? - Yes, absolutely. So James is gonna demonstrate making one of Ed and Claudia's lenses and then you are gonna actually have a go at the glass blowing yourself. - Excellent. I feel like I'm gonna be mediocre at that. - You'll be great. [both laughing] - Do I get to wear a snazzy sleeve as well? - Yes. - It's not dissimilar from like a hawk coming to land. - Exactly the same, exactly the same. - Yeah, we get our gear from the same shop as the hawk guys. Oh my God. Wow, oh. Do you ever make pizzas in there? It's a shame it's too hot to touch 'cause I really wanna squidge it. - [James] So this is just wet newspaper. - Yeah, it's starting to look lensy. Oh that looks fun, and I bet that feels nice. - [James] It's really nice. [gentle music] - Yeah, dude, I don't think I could have done that. [Katie laughs] I appreciate that you believed in me. See that is like so hypnotic. - Yes. - It's mesmerizing. - Yeah. - Ooh. [fire roaring] [gentle music] - You wanna hit at off? - Oh, my god, fun? - You're just gonna hit it. - Hit what? - Hit the iron. It's gonna- - Oh - Hit that there. - Here? - Here! - Yep, perfect. [glass crackles] Just like that. - Ah. [all laugh and giggle] - Oh my God, rounders bat. [imitates hitting ball] I told Edward that I was gonna blow glass, so I've now forced Katie into showing me how to do that. And also 'cause I got to wear my cool sleeve and these shades. Got my hair up. I'm ready to go. Ah! I'm scared, I'm actually scared. - [Katie] Okay, so you are gonna pick up the paper pad. - Paper. - That's it. - Paper. - That's it. - Is it wet enough? - [Katie] James will come put some water on it for you. - Thank you master. - [Katie] Okay, so this hand will come behind mine. - Yeah, - We're gonna keep it rolling. This hand's gonna come underneath. - Yup! - And I'm gonna just gently- - Oh my God. - Lift it off, and back on. Beautiful. Put That down. Move yourself all the way down that end for me. Okay. - Yep. - [Katie] And blow. [blow rod hisses] Keep it turning. Stop and tap that. - What? - Yep, hit it. [rod clinking] - Oh, like- [rod thuds] - Beautiful. - Oh, okay. What glass is used? - Well, we actually make use of all of the sort of excess glass. You saw the piece that was in our studio hanging, so we make use of all of those chunks and break them up. And so always all of the glass that sort of breaks, or gets left over is kind of inspiration for the next artwork. - There you go. - Gorgeous. - [Katie] Your very first glass. - That's absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful workshop and artistic journey with me. And thank you for watching. Goodbye. [gentle music ends]