REPURPOSING ROADWORK

This week, LN-CC showcases the launch of the latest update for three of HOKA’s staple styles, situated in an installation crafted by London-based sculptural furniture designer Charlie Boyden. Repurposing signage from roadworks, Boyden has transformed the L8te club into a view of a runner’s journey across the city, with the HOKA U Mafate Speed 2TS, Speedgoat 2 TS, and Bondi 7 all being highlighted as the perfect footwear for urban environments. With this capsule, HOKA’s focus on designing with both performance and style in mind come to the forefront, crafted with advanced materials to suit city terrain. Ahead of the launch, Charlie gave us insight into his own creative practice, alongside his approach to designing the setting for the event.

If you had a design manifesto, what would it be?

How you look at the world informs what you make of it.

Mindset over medium.

Process not mass produced.

Educating through play.

Fixing, not throwing.

What did the early days of your practice look like, and how have things changed since then?

Early on I was obsessed with sculpture, opposing materials, things in nature and how I could reference old style advertisement within my objects. The work was intuitive and built with no trained skills in making. I’d grab what I could and pull it into the piece. Things I didn't have to physically fix or attach worked well. Now I make with an idea of how to make. It still feels intuitive, but the finish seems to be more practiced. I did a lot of precision work, and now I feel as though I have gone full circle, returning to making with less pressure on the precision finish of an object and instead letting the material speak for itself.

Your work repurposes existing material – some of it waste. How do you often source everything you work with?

I collect a lot of it myself. Things on the side of the road, mostly. An hours' drive might turn into two by the time I’ve stopped for a traffic cone and a few broken chairs. Then I might become obsessed with one thing, so I research and find some nutter close by that has a garage full of that thing, and I’ll usually pick it up for a decent price.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever worked with?

I made a collection of ‘DIRTY SOAP’ bars. Clear soap was melted and mixed with various things I found in an abandoned carpark block in SE London. There were three bars: Rubble, Hair, and Urine on Newspaper.

There must be some challenges that come with using pre-existing materials. How do you overcome them?

I tend to either embrace the charm, introducing it as an element within the work, or find ways to adapt and renew the materials. I think the middle ground is always most fun.

What does ideation look like for you? Do you already know how something will look before its made or does it mostly come through the making process?

My work is usually the result of materials, influence, limitation, choice, availability, mistakes, tools, and time working together to find an end point that feels right. I usually have an idea of what I want to make, so I draw it a few times from different angles and then draw a few more technicals to work out how it will join or fix, making notes on dims, materials, and thicknesses. Then I’ll make it. The nice part is that sometimes what I make looks nothing like the first drawing. As I’m pulling in materials in and fixing things together, I find other objects or have new ideas. The process of making influences the end result.

The involvement of purpose seems to be flexible in your work, given the recontextualization of the materials you use. Would you say you’re led by function or more by form?

A chair is a chair, but does it have to be a chair? I’d like to think I’m led by a balance of both. I tend to use objects that have functions to make things led by their form. I like creating objects that have a meaning or try to say something to the viewer, a hidden message or subtle reference. I feel like as my practice grows, I’m searching for a balance of form and function through materials and process.

Cut-out holes seem to be a common motif in your designs. What do you think draws you to incorporating them?

I think I’m drawn to circles because they feel playful. Strict, yet playful. You think of ‘The Perfect Circle,’ then position that next to a more abstract thought or sharp edge, and it brightens it up.

You ran the Make Play workshop, which allowed participants to explore your design process. How does play factor in to design for you?

Yes, those workshops are an excellent example of how even people with little skill in making can create really interesting objects. Play infiltrates my practice in many ways, from themes or subjects I’m trying to communicate, through to the actual process of creating work. Everyone knows how to play. Growing up you invent your own games and merge different toys or puzzles into one giant plaything. In some ways I’m still doing that today but with a few more tools and a wider pool of ideas.

To showcase the HOKA Stealth Pack, you’ve reinterpreted traffic road signs, crafting a spatial narrative evoking a runner’s surroundings in London. Does considering how your work will tell a story like this affect your designs?

I think I try to tell stories through everything I make. Each decision is considered and adapts to become part of the communication. I lean into the process of combining materials and the limitations that come with that, pinching small details and references along the way, hoping that they feed into the final object.

Can you talk about the process of creating this collection of pieces?

The collection is inspired by ‘street sculptures’ I find while out running. I wanted to create a sense of familiarity through the combination of common objects and materials that feel native to our gravel metropolis. The collection is a combination of ready-made and adapted works that attempt to resemble the autological nature of street sculptures.

Last December you took us on a tour of your day wearing HOKA’s Stinson One7s. What did you take from that experience in the making of this installation?

There’s always something that catches my eye when I’m moving about the city. I try to pull on as many of those memories and references as I can when building new pieces.

Now you’ve done road signs – what's next on the list for recontextualization?

I feel like I’ve found something that works with the road signs, so I think I’ll keep exploring them a little more. I want to get hold of some UK Motorway signs and build a collection from them. Picture ‘The North’ but as a bold blue chair.