Miles Robinson. Central Saint Martins. New Talents Award Nominee 2023

Article / NewTalentsByKlimt02 Artists

Published: 17.08.2023

Miles Robinson

Author:: BA (Hons) Jewellery Design Central Saint Martins

Edited by:: Klimt02

Edited at:: Barcelona

Edited on:: 2023

The 9th edition of the New Talents Award by Klimt02 aims to recognize the work of graduate students in our field by supporting their careers in the professional world. Nominated by our school members, one of the selected graduates will win the New Talents Award.

Miles's collection evokes a sense of searching for meaning in a senseless world, constructing a narrative critical of humanity's understanding of itself. This search for meaning ties into his critique of hubris and comments on the fragility of human ambition and perception. The collection is satirical in its approach, featuring blunt, monolithic forms which, despite their geometric shapes and perceived weight, still contain a strong bodily presence. The loaded imagery is provocative and ambiguous, leaving the viewer to draw their own associations.
/ Interpretative text by Stanislava Baskova, BA (Hons) Culture, Criticism and Curation, Central Saint Martins.

Name of graduation student: Miles Robinson
Name of guiding teacher: Lin Cheung, Frances Wadsworth Jones, Scott Wilson, Giles Last, Sally Collins

Nominated by Central Saint Martins, BA (Hons) Jewellery Design.

‘Take a Chance with Electricity’, Miles Robinson’s graduating collection from the BA Jewellery Design at Central Saint martins, combines a thoughtful and provocative approach, with beautifully executed pieces in steel, wood and repurposed materials. Observation of this work encourages the wearer or viewer to question human interaction with objects and our own sense of self. The result is a unique collection which is both a pleasure to wear and to contemplate, that exemplifies the ethos of the BA at Central Saint Martins; responsible, creative and forward-thinking interpretations of the medium of jewellery.
/Course Leader, Sally Collins

The statement of the artist:
Miles Robinson’s work strives to question universal hierarchies that centre humans, criticising our own agency in an effort to understand humanity’s place within wider contexts.
Miles’ thinking is influenced by Mary Jane Rubenstein and Tim Ingold’s writing on the agency of the natural world. Rubenstein connects science and religion through their shared searches for meaning; explaining how a restructured model of divinity built around the agency of the natural world would help challenge hierarchies established by many monotheistic religions in which humans are placed above nature.
Miles aims to avoid over-considered forms, stopping a design when it fulfils its role, and is enough. Many of the monolithic, simplified shapes used have stemmed from this approach, avoiding unnecessary ornamentation and instead working with bold geometric forms. The blunt, assertive text and imagery referenced in the collection is chosen with a similar mindset, many inspirations coming out of dramatic, over-the-top warnings in 1970s British public information films. The immediacy associated with this direct, blunt way of working often results in the work being read as humorous, and while the collection does reference satirical approaches to cynical thinking, Miles doesn’t approach designs with the goal of humour- instead the priority is directness.

Miles’ collection focuses on criticising and undoing the wearers agency — the humour unintentionally stemming from subversive, uncanny designs like the curved, hollow hammer, which challenges perception and ambition as a familiar object associated with human agency is rendered useless..

Contact:
Mail: milesrobin_@hotmail.com
Instagram: @milesrobin

Find out more about the courses at Central Saint Martins.

Miles Robinson
Head piece: Lightning Conductor Dunce Hat, 2023
Copper, brass, leather
11.7 x 11.7 x 20 cm
From series: Take a Chance With Electricity
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Estimated price: 2900 €

Miles Robinson
Neckpiece: Hammer Torc, 2023
Mild steel, beech wood, magnet
22 x 21 x 3.2 cm
From series: Take a Chance With Electricity
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Estimated price: 2900 €

Miles Robinson
Object: Flaccid Hammer, 2023
Found hammer, brass
11.5 x 40 x 3.2 cm
From series: Take a Chance With Electricity
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Estimated price: 750 €

Miles Robinson
Brooch: Take a Chance With Electricity, 2023
Repurposed glass, mild steel, stainless steel pin
17 x 1 x 1.2 cm
From series: Take a Chance With Electricity
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Estimated price: 550 €

Miles Robinson
Brooch: Stop Making Sense, 2023
Mild steel, magnet
3 x 2 x 0.3 cm
From series: Take a Chance With Electricity
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Estimated price: 140 €