expelled streams of scented soap bubbles and vapoury mists from its arching limbs. Every one of their projects begins with an idea, they say, followed by months of travel, research and rumination. Simon Lewsen spoke to the duo to find out how they apply their slow design philosophy to bigscale commissions, including their most recent project: an indoor waterfall in Saudi Arabia. Image: Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves. Photo by Bruno Staub. Courtesy of the designer.
Studio Swine By Simon Lewsen
One of the most adventurous studios to emerge from the UK in recent years is run by Royal College of Art grads Alexander Groves and Azusa Murakami. The duo, who work under the moniker Studio Swine, have ignored the usual disciplinary divides to make films about oceanic debris, and to craft furniture made of natural rubber sourced from the Amazon. In 2017, they wowed crowds during Milan Design Week with a life-size “tree” that 54
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AG: We create objects but we also tell stories and, in doing so, we explore something about the world; and that’s not unlike journalism. An example would be our project ‘Hair Highway’. When we were living in East London, we noticed there were supermarkets where you can buy human hair for wigs or extensions. We were interested in finding out who was selling their hair and where it came from. So, in 2013, we went to Shandong province in China and visited nine hair-processing factories, including the largest hair market in the world.
That led you to create a suite of objects—combs, jewelry boxes, tables—made out of human hair and encased in bio-resin. You also turned the trip into a film. AG: Yes, we always aim to show more than the objects, and film is a good way to show context. Our first film
