Acid Bitten Singularity
Innovation and collaboration are at the core of what we do. Acid Bitten Singularity is an interactive etching by Joao Villas. Full of surprises, this work invites you to look closer and to do that we teamed up with the talented goldsmith Antonia Speare-Cole to create a work with its own built in brushed brass bespoke loop.
Looking closer
Like the places we inhabit, this image is made up of individuals. Composed entirely of human figures, the image has been etched in varying strengths of acid, “bitten” until each individual figure became unique. Each print contains 25,000 people. As an edition of 40, it represents the 1,000,000 people that have been displaced along the Sub-Saharan where this image, and the work began.
When every detail matters,
so does the experience itself. We worked with goldsmith Antonia Speare-Cole to prototype a beautifully bespoke brushed brass loop. Built into the fabric of the frame itself, the loop allows the viewer to move the loop left and right, up and down along the work to discover all its delicate intricacies.
Finishing touches
The handles of the loop fit ergonomically into your grasp along a track set into the frame’s rebate. Walnut stained ash wood and a canvas lined shadow box gives the piece an antique aesthetic that adds to the illusion and playful discovery within the work. The print itself incorporates etching, photography, and lithography.
João Villas
Fascinated by the intersection between print and film, Joao Villas has an internationally recognised interdisciplinary practice. He has exhibited at Offprint TATE, TATE Modern (2019) and London Original Print Fair at the Royal Academy (2020). He received the Royal Society of Painters Printmakers (RE) Gwen May Award (2019), Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) Best in Show (2018)