The Design Museum's new exhibition Es Devlin: Other Worlds offers a fascinating insight into the creative process of one of the world's most in-demand designers, showing the hard work behind her acclaimed stage shows and public installations.
A 50-year trajectory of decision-making
Es Devlin said of this archive show that she wanted to "show a trajectory of 50 years of decision-making in such a way that whether you're a designer, an artist or whether you're in business or medicine, whatever it is, you can find a thread in this show that's relevant and some guidance."
The show begins with timed entries into a room which is an exact replica of her studio. A screen appears on one wall, showing a tabletop and Devlin's hands appear, to draw and montage as her voice talks through some of the highlights of a career which has taken her from being a young artist in Richmond into becoming one of the world's most in-demand creatives.
From Edward II to The Weeknd
Devlin has designed acclaimed theatre productions and operas, and stage shows by the likes of Adele, U2 and Kendrick Lamar, as well as beloved public installations like her Come Home Again dome which celebrated London wildlife outside the Tate Modern.
The archive on display shows how much attention to detail, planning, drawing, and research goes into these big moments. Visitors can see into her notebooks, how she works out concepts and visual moments from a deep understanding of her material, which was right there from when she won her first major stage award for her design for Edward II in Bolton in 1996.
Her pages of costume designs find her hitting upon the idea of all the characters in the play as a combined alphabet, where every detail communicates something. Devlin was actually born in Kingston-upon-Thames, and pages from her teenage art books and early design experimentations show this creative compulsion was always there.
Her paper airplane set for The Weeknd, which involves a huge piece of paper folding and taking flight around the stage before crashing, is quite breathtaking.
An Infinite Library
The show finishes with An Infinite Library, a huge bookshelf containing 2000 books which spins on a mirror base, an effective monument to the power of reading. Books on seats surrounding it encourage you to take a moment, and when you do flick through the Divine Comedy or the Memoirs of Socrates, you find she has underlined pertinent passages.
Even for her this has been a big year, with this show following her highly acclaimed immersive work for the Homo Faber Biennale at Venice. This retrospective is not simply a celebration of a British modern great, but an inspirational insight that reminds you that art is about connecting to others.
Es Devlin: Other Worlds is at the Design Museum until 4 April 2027.
