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Moulded Polystyrene Workshop with Silo Studio

part of Make! A Season of Contemporary Craft

,Barbican Shop
NSEPS Not so expanded polystyrene close up image of sculpture

Experiment, play and learn using this innovative material in Silo Studio's hands-on crash course.

Polystyrene is traditionally treated as disposable product - the packaging around a TV or a take-away cup. Attua Aparicio Torinos and Oscar Lessing, the brains behind Silo Studio, decided to challenge this, taking polystyrene away from the world of disposables and showing it in a new light.

Not So Expanded Polystyrene (NSEPS) is the product of an innovate process through which polystyrene beads are steamed in fabric moulds, where they melt and fuse, distorting and creating unexpected shapes. The material behaves in a different way every time making each piece unique.

In these hands-on crash-courses you will meet the makers, learn about the NSEPS process and make your own object to take home.

Tagged with: Make! Talks & events Tours & public spaces More...
  • All materials are provided
  • No experience required
  • Workshop duration: 3 hours (inc.1 hour break)
  • Maximum capacity: 20

About the makers

Silo Studio is the brainchild of Attua Aparicio Torinos and Oscar Lessing, who formed the partnership while studying Design Products at the Royal College of Art. 

The core of Silo Studio’s practice is material innovation. They reconfigure industrial processes for their design practice, challenging the traditional use of materials. By adopting a hands-on approach, which they refer to as ‘Handmade hi-tech’, they aim to discover possibilities that the production line does not see, developing the expressive potential in industrial materials.

Discover

photo of suspended sculpture

Watch: Silo Studios

Follow Oscar Wanless and Attua Aparicio into the studio as they use NSEPS (Not So Expanded Polystyrene) to create a coat rack.

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a collage photo of two black cups

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Brighton-based ceramicist and designer Emma Johnson is the latest maker to be showcased in the Barbican Shop as part of our Makers initiative. 

We catch up with Emma to find out more about her work and her Barbican range.

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Barbican Shop

Location
The Barbican Shop is located over two levels on Level G at the bottom of the Silk Street entrance ramp, opposite The Curve gallery, or can be accessed from Level -1. 

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.