People / Oliver Linnell
Oliver Linnell is a designer and maker based in Stockport. Through a playful interrogation of materials, he develops new ways of making that push against the established boundaries of craft and design. Whether it is by re-appropriating hardware from B&Q or subverting traditional ceramic processes, he actively tries to innovate. The objects that he creates are honest and accessible, often using familiar components and forms that bear the traces of these methods of making. Political in his refusal to reform, he hopes to challenge the way we think of design by showing us unconventional ways of making.
Extruded Candle Holder
I have access to a ceramic extruder in the shared studio I work in. However, this machine can ordinarily only produce single profiles, and being a shared space I couldn’t irreversibly modify the tool to make it perform differently.
Using offcuts of material, I managed to fashion a workaround: plywood two-part die plates and a device which can be temporarily attached to the end of the extruder, enabling it to produce multiple interconnected extrusions.
Without a need for a food-safe surface, I’ve used spray paint to finish the candle holders, bypassing the necessity for a glaze firing which adds expense and awkwardly takes up additional space.
Pick + Mix Wall Rack
Needing a few odd screws for a different project, I paid a visit to B&Q’s Pick+Mix. I had plenty of extra space in my bag, so I filled it up with other hardware to get my money’s worth. Seeing the nuts and washers arranged efficiently, stacked down the bag over bolts and screws, made me curious about how they would respond to one another in ways that could push the boundaries of their intended function. These mass-produced components provided me with a set of guidelines for making, as the threads and machined diameters in the metal dictate what is possible. Although these work as constraints, they also present opportunities for innovation. Repurposing, organising, rotating and playing with them in this way transformed them into wall hooks all for the price of a fiver! The means by which they are mounted to a surface is already built into the body.