TIM WALKER: WONDERFUL THINGS
V&A, SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON
Exploring the creative process of one of the world's most inventive photographers, Tim Walker, through his pictures, films, photographic sets, and special installations, this exhibtion also included ten new series of photographs influenced by the V&A's collections. Tim worked with his scenographer and long tome collaborator Shona Heath to create the sets for the new commissions and also design the immersive sets for the exhibition design.
Studio ZNA worked closely with Shona and her team to create an immersive journey into the fantastical worlds. We created huge light boxes to introduce a Kubrick inspired opening which then softened into a sensuous intimate room bathed in flesh coloured, diffused light. The next section was a deconstructed gothic abbey with stained glass patterning projected onto black gloss floors, followed by a series of immersive rooms ranging from the surreal to the hyper real. We employed moving lights to scan the gallery which picked out objects at high level and created an additional dynamic layer to link the different imagined worlds. In one of these rooms our design used ultra violet light to echo the technique employed by Walker in the series of works shown in this section. This gave an extra depth to the space and the red finishes took on a heightened glow.
Throughout the exhibition, rainbows were created through projected light to imbue the sense of wonder and possibility. Visitors exited through the enlarged sketchbook and through the coloured light of the rainbow.
Opening Date: 2023
Exhibition Design: Shona Heath Studio with technical design by Kit Stiby Harris
Graphic Design: V&A Museum