Review of the Year 2016: Top 10 Talks

Through our events, Here and Nicer Tuesdays, we’re given the opportunity to hear personal insights and stories from some of the most talented people working across the industry. Here we gather together just some of the talks and presentations we were fortunate to listen to.

1. Erik Kessels: Nicer Tuesdays, May 2016

Erik Kessels is the founding partner of KesselsKramer; at Nicer Tuesdays this year he explained his obsession with finding the beauty in failure.

2. Anna Ginsburg: Nicer Tuesdays, June 2016

Anna Ginsburg talks us through her cheeky film Private Parts for Channel 4’s Random Acts series, commissioned by It’s Nice That, for which she interviewed people about female pleasure and animated them as talking genitals.

3. Gail Bichler: Here 2016

As design director of The New York Times Magazine, Gail Bichler is one of the driving forces behind the Sunday supplement’s succession of brilliant weekly covers. We were elated to welcome Gail to Here 2016, hearing her speak about the ins and outs of delivering a first ­rate cover, showcasing and discussing the process behind the production of her most recent, celebrated work.

4. Builders Club: Nicer Tuesdays, May 2016

Builders Club reveals the big secret behind its documentary Robert Rushkin — The Artist and how to twist reality in the internet age.

5. Kim Gehrig: Here 2016

Kim Gehrig’s showreel includes commissions for the likes of Ikea, Cadbury and Amnesty International. At Here 2016, the esteemed director explained the process behind her casting – for attitude rather than looks, and how to combine advertising with an empowering agenda. She gave us a deeper look, behind the scenes of her work – and the casting that happens behind the camera.

6. Supermundane: Nicer Tuesdays, July 2016

Supermundane talks us through the work from his recent solo show Everything Connects, and treats us to a rare performance of his Kerning song.

7. Yolanda Domínguez: Here 2016

Artist Yolanda Domínguez continually creates work that passes comment on society often highlighting issues surrounding gender and consumption. Yolanda’s thoughtful and considered execution gives the viewer the chance to reflect and act upon her work, such that she incited audience participation at Here 2016 in reenacting en masse the pose of one of her most sardonic fashion photographs.

8. Jimmy Turrell: Nicer Tuesdays, June 2016

Jimmy Turrell shares behind-the-scenes insights into his surreal and psychedelic animated collage video for Beck’s latest single, Wow, which he created in just eight days.

9. Wilfrid Wood: Here 2016

London-based sculptor Wilfrid Wood trained in graphics at Central St Martins before a friend got him a job building latex heads for satirical TV programme Spitting Image. Speaking at Here 2016, he illumined the ideas and working processes that precede the creation of his unique portraits, accompanied by a witty presentation filled with sarcastic humour, satirical headshots, and the experimental results of his handcraft.

10. Assemble: Here 2016

Joe Halligan is one of the 18 members that founded architecture, art and design collective Assemble in 2010. Assemble was the first collective to win the prestigious Turner Prize, as well as being the youngest. Humorously comparing themselves to the art world’s answer to the Wu-Tang Clan in his presentation at Here 2016, Joe discussed how the collective seeks to connect people and places, encouraging public involvement in the realisation of their projects and collaborative working process.

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