Es Devlin: 'I Saw The World End'

For Frieze London 2022, the charity Platform Earth presented a new artwork by Es Devlin in the entrance corridor to the fair. In the above video, Devlin explains the inspirations behind the piece, and her fundamental hopes for new ecological horizons in design thinking.

The work was created from a still taken from Devlin's 2020 film, I Saw The World End, made in collaboration with designer Machiko Weston and commissioned by the Imperial War Museum.

Devlin and Weston have been sharing a studio for over 12 years, often exploring fictional apocalypses in drama and opera, but this was their first investigation of the impact of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings on their respective cultures.

The new work, created for Frieze London, was printed on canvas and installed on a wall at the entrance to the fair. The piece was created using innovative, carbon-negative ink made from recycled air pollution, creating a carbon-negative presentation to raise awareness for the environment.

About Platform Earth

Platform Earth is a charity driving material developments in ecological regeneration alongside cultural enrichment by creating active partnerships between cultural, scientific and governmental spheres. The organisation has united a coalition of leading artistic and cultural actors across the arts industry, to produce environmentally considered art exhibitions, installations, talks and other initiatives to fundraise for its environmental programme, as well as educate and raise awareness through the power of art.

Through its environmental programme, Platform Earth works with scientists and other expert partners to actively restore the marine environment. Its projects work to conserve and support regrowth of kelp, sea grass and other natural carbon sequestering marine environments to support the mitigation of climate change.

Learn more about Platform Earth and their art collection here.