Tom Pearman undertook an artist residency at Marshgate Primary School, commissioned through Orleans House Gallery and the London Borough of Richmond.
The residency resulted in a series of architectural window artworks for two school stairwells, developed alongside creative workshops with pupils exploring ideas of scale, observation and changing viewpoints.
Powers of Ten
The project was inspired by Charles and Ray Eames’ influential short film Powers of Ten, which moves between increasingly large and increasingly small scales to explore our place within the universe.
Tom used this idea as a starting point for investigating the relationship between the microcosm and macrocosm — from microscopic structures and small organisms to landscapes, geological forms and much larger environments.
The finished windows arrange these different scales as a sequence of paired circular images, accompanied by numerical magnifications such as ×10, ×50, ×150 and ×600.
Looking through lenses
The overlapping circular forms reference the view through binoculars, magnifying glasses and microscopes.
Images of landscapes, pyramids, natural forms and microscopic structures are framed through these paired apertures, creating the impression of looking through an optical instrument.
By placing radically different subjects within the same visual structure, the artwork encourages comparison between things that might otherwise appear unrelated because of their vastly different scale.
Architecture and transparency
The artworks were designed specifically for two large stairwell windows within the school.
Printed onto transparent vinyl, the coloured imagery overlays the real landscape and daylight visible beyond the glazing. The exterior environment therefore becomes part of the composition, changing according to weather, season and the viewer’s position.
As pupils move through the stairwell, they encounter the imagery from different distances and viewpoints, reinforcing the project’s underlying interest in how scale alters perception.
Artist residency and workshops
Tom collaborated with several classes at Marshgate Primary School during the residency.
Pupils explored microcosm and macrocosm using optical devices including binoculars, magnifying glasses and microscopes, investigating how familiar objects and environments change when viewed at different scales.
These sessions provided the conceptual basis for the architectural glass artworks and allowed scientific observation, drawing and visual experimentation to become part of the artistic process.
The project explores microcosm and marcocosm as seen through optical devises such as binoculas, magnifiying glasses and microscopes.
