Organised for London Design Festival, this conversation will focus on the topic of functional art. The materials and processes Roxane Lahidji and Kris Lamba use are very different, but both create pieces that break boundaries, creating sculptural objects that are not just to be looked at, but touched and used.

Born in Paris and currently working in Belgium, Roxane Lahidji’s work centres on experimentation with materials and techniques. Her development of ‘Marbled Salts’, a material made from salt and resin, reflects her commitment to sustainability, for she seeks to balance local and renewable resources, environmentally friendly production processes, and essential human values. Each object she produces is the result of a transformational process, and each reflects her thoughtful, hands-on approach which is closer to that of a sculptor than a furniture-maker.

Born in London, Kris creates large and small-scale sculptures, paintings and pieces of edition-based functional art. He aims in part to remove the element of ‘self’ from the creative process and limits himself to the adjustment of parameters such as temperature, weight and applied force. Kris’s stretched and manipulated sculptures can be seen as a rebellion against the confines of traditional categories; their spontaneous forms a reworking of traditional artistic practice.

Both Roxane and Kris’s work brings art into the everyday in an eminently tactile way, and some of the questions to be raised in the course of the conversation are: what enables a piece of ‘functional art’ to emerge? What role do the artists' processes play in the categorisation of a piece as an artwork? How important are materials? Can functional art transform our living spaces? What new potential does this cross-discipline category have today?

The topic is vast, and there will be a chance to chat to the artists directly after the discussion. The talk will take place at 5 PM on Wednesday 18 September. Free admission.

Image: protype of the limited edition Lava bench-sculpture by Kris Lamba