Surround Yourself
Aukett Swanke’s Interiors team were one of several consultants invited to participate in Clarus’ annual charity event, for which this year’s partners were The Perspective Project – raising awareness for Mental Health and Wellbeing in the workplace through art and creativity.
We were provided with a Surround writable glassboard and invited to create an artwork on this year’s theme. We submitted two artworks for the event with related narratives alongside.
Firstly, ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud……….’
Strong philosophical parallels can be drawn between people and clouds. Each enjoys only a transient physical manifestation in this world. Each ‘individual’ is unique and constantly evolves in response to external and internal influences [from the Latin infleure – originally ‘to flow’; the flowing in of ethereal fluid (affecting human destiny); imperceptible or indirect action exerted to cause changes]. Taken literally, each is continually shaped and moulded by varied experiences plus the atmosphere that surrounds them and the emotion that is within them.
A single cloud that one minute appears joyous and uplifting can become sombre and melancholy the next. It can become isolated and distant from those that surround it within a cloudscape in much the same way, perhaps, as our family members, friends and colleagues might become distant through anxiety, depression or other challenges related to mental health and well-being.
‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ by William Wordsworth is not, as the title suggests, a melancholy poem. It is an optimistic assertion that our close communion with nature can create not just a momentary joy but something that is, in the sense of personal well-being, much deeper and longer lasting.
Our second ‘photographic’ artwork was titled ‘Expression’ – /ɪkˈsprɛʃ(ə)n, ɛkˈsprɛʃ(ə)n/
A look on someone’s face that conveys a particular emotion (or not………)
On October 28th all artworks submitted were exhibited and judged by all attendees, drawn from the design industry, at an event hosted by Clarus and held at Herman Miller’s London Showroom.
All the pieces have been donated to ‘THE PERSPECTIVE PROJECT’ and will be displayed in workplaces around the country.