Tide Changers 2021

Jessie Russell Donn, a London-based artist and teacher, will present Lillith. This audio-visual piece is shot and recorded in the Woolwich foot tunnel, which runs underneath the River Thames, and is inspired by the Biblical story of Adam’s first wife Eve. The recording of live singers performing this fascinating work in the tunnel will be made available online. Multidisciplinary designer Sean T. Ross will present Tea from the Thames, a visceral litmus test to check the health of the river since its recovery after being declared biologically dead in 1957. Ross will produce a Victorian tea set out of River Thames clay, using river water to create a cup of Thames Tea. In the offing, the sea and the sky were welded is a project produced by young visual artist Sonam Tobgyal, exploring the notion of human transition and using the River Thames as the focal point. Tobgyal’s solargraphs capture both static and developing locations along the Thames, illustrating how the juxtaposing ideas of change and tranquillity can serve as spaces for solace and hopefulness.

I’m a multi-disciplinary designer interested in exploring the intersection of nature and technology and how we can create a symbiotic relationship between the two. Within my work I look at emerging scientific developments and, using design as a tool, create sustainable interventions that stimulate conversation, and even ignite action, around how we can build a brighter future. I situate my work between the realms of the applied and the speculative to create pieces that have real world applications as well as push the boundaries of what our material future could be. I draw inspiration from heritage craft techniques as well as modern forms of digital fabrication to reinvent historic technologies and to push at the frontier of our material world.

seantross.com