Zoe Laughlin
British artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zoe Laughlin (/ˈlɑːflɪn/) is a British artist, maker and materials engineer. She is the co-founder and Director of the Institute of Making at University College London. She is a regular panelist on the BBC Radio 4 show The Kitchen Cabinet. Laughlin was awarded the 2019 Inspire, Support Achieve Award for Design Engineering from the Institution of Engineering Designers.
Zoe Laughlin | |
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Zoe Laughlin in 2011 | |
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| Known for | Making, art, materials science and engineering |
| Website | http://zoelaughlin.com/ |
Education
Laughlin took A-Levels in Art, Textiles and English Literature[1] and completed a Master of Art at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design. She earned a PhD in Material Science in the Department of Engineering at King's College London in 2010.[2]
Research
During her PhD, Laughlin discovered how materials affects the taste of food, and how to predict the taste of food using electrode potential.[3][4] Her thesis, "Beyond the Swatch: How can the Science of Materials be Represented by the Materials Themselves in a Materials Library?", became the basis for the methodological approaches of the Institute of Making and some of its research.[5][6] The experiments Laughlin undertook were designed to identify the links between the physical properties of materials and our aesthetic perception of materiality.[7] As a result, she has been key to the development of the concept of Sensoaesthetics, which is the "application of scientific methodology to the aesthetic, sensual and emotional side" of materials.[8]
Career
In 2010/11, Mark Miodownik, Martin Conreen and Laughlin began working on the Institute of Making, which they planned to open in the east wing of Somerset House.[9] In February 2012, they joined University College London, and launched "A Taste of Materials" in April 2012.[10] She published Material Matters: New Materials in Design with Black Dog Publishing.[11] Their Materials Library and Make Space opened in Malet Place on 14 March 2013.[12][13][14]
Laughlin has created work and done projects with partners and galleries including Tate Modern, the Hayward Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Wellcome Collection.[15][16][17] In 2016 her spoons became part of the new permanent collection of London's Design Museum and are on display in the Designer Maker User gallery.[18]
Laughlin is interested in the sound of and taste of materials, as well as what she terms "the performativity of matter".[19] She regularly speaks about materials and performs demonstration lectures.[20][21] In 2012 she delivered a TEDx talk in Brussels on "The Performativity of Matter".[22][23]
She is a trustee of the Crafts Council, and works with them to integrate new materials and making methods into the crafts sector.[24][25] Laughlin was honoured by the Institution of Engineering Designers for her "outstanding contributions to design engineering".[26]
Laughlin produces and hosts the podcast The Things that Make Us.[27][28] She appears regularly on British radio and television, and gives invited talks on material science in Britain and around the world.[29][30][31] She has appeared on the Today Programme and "The Material Word" with Quentin Cooper.[32][33][34] In 2016, Laughlin delivered an invited talk at The Royal Institution, "Performing Matter: Greatest Hits and New Findings".[35]
Broadcasting
This Morning
Laughlin was the resident scientist on ITV's long running series This Morning, hosting the regular bi-weekly feature "Wonderstuff".[36][37] On the show, Laughlin introduced Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby to many marvellous materials and conducted numerous demonstrations including smelting copper and turning milk to plastic.[38][39][40] In 2019 she returned to the show with a bang for a run of spectacular demonstrations[41] including dripping a monster slime from the studio ceiling[42] and ripping oxygen from hydrogen peroxide.[43]
The Kitchen Cabinet
Laughlin was asked on to BBC Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet as a guest in 2015 and has since become their resident materials expert.[44] The May 2016 episode, from Sandwich, Kent, was recorded in Laughlin's old school hall.[45]
Big Life Fix
Laughlin was a maker of tea on the BBC Two television programme Big Life Fix.[46][47][48] In the show, a team of designers and inventors created solutions, often as simple as repurposing everyday objects, to change people's lives.[49][50] On the show, Laughlin designed a number of items, including a lightweight, durable foam helmet for a child who suffers from hydrocephalus.[51] Laughlin described the experience as "a great show to be part of".[52] In Series 2, "Inventing the Impossible: Big Life Fix" Laughlin made a "second skin" for a young man with Xeroderma Pigmentosum[53][54] and a pair of robotic gloves that gave movement back to a man with paralysed hands.[55]
Fireworks for a Tudor Queen
In 2017 Laughlin and Lucy Worsley presented a 90-minute BBC Four programme exploring the history of fireworks, Fizz Bang Wallop - A Tudor Firework Spectacular.[56] The show, Fireworks for a Tudor Queen, was broadcast in March 2018.
The Secret Life of Landfill
In the spring of 2018 Laughlin and George McGavin made a BBC Four documentary The Secret Life of Landfill: A Rubbish History, exploring the fate and future of rubbish deposited in landfill sites.[57][58]
The Secret Story of Stuff
In summer 2018 Laughlin wrote and presented her own show for BBC Four entitled The Secret Story of Stuff: Materials for the Modern Age, blending "bonhomie, excitement and expertise in perfect proportions".[59] In the programme she performed a number of demonstrations to reveal the wonderous properties of materials, including a test of the thermally insulative equalities of mycelium using a high-powered blow touch and ice-cream.[60][61] The show was first broadcast in the autumn of 2018 and has subsequently been repeated.[62]
Plane Spotting Live
Over the course of 3 consecutive nights in June 2019, Laughlin co-presented Plane Spotting Live[63] for BBC Four with Peter Snow and Andi Peters. The programme was broadcast live from a set constructed on East Midlands Aeropark, alongside the runway of East Midlands Airport.[64]
How to Make
In How to Make,[65] Laughlin deconstructs everyday items - training shoes, a toothbrush, and a pair of headphones - examining the materials they're made of and re-making a customised version of each. This BBC Four series first aired on 2 April 2020 and was produced in connection with the Open University.
Television appearances
- Laughlin appeared on the 2018/2019 Christmas University Challenge representing King's College London alongside Anita Anand (captain), Angela Saini, and Anne Dudley.[66]
- Laughlin appeared on the third episode of the 2024 Royal Institute Christmas Lectures, hosted by Chris Van Tulleken to explain ways that humans have prepared food over the centuries.
