Recently Giles Miller, Artist, worked along-side David Clixby, Director at G.A Group and the team on a significant piece at London Hilton on Park Lane.
His piece ‘Falling Still’ really resonated with the designers at G.A and with David so we thought it would be lovely to meet with Giles and delve deeper into his work and this piece.
Anna, Group Marketing Executive at G.A Group – Firstly, can you tell us a little about you and Giles Miller Studio.
Giles Miller – ‘We are a design and art sculpture studio. It’s kind of hard to put it in a box as we work on a range of projects from murals to sculptures and architectural projects – a wide variety of scale and application. I started the studio back in 2011 so around 12 years ago. We’re UK-based but we have people working remotely from all over. We’ve got quite a small core team of specialists, but we work with all sorts of craftsmen and artists on a day-to-day basis.’
A snippet from Giles Miller instagram feed
How did this collaboration with G.A come about?
‘It was very exciting when it all came about, I actually heard about the project when we’d already been shortlisted. The Hilton team were commissioning the project, the space and the sculpture itself. G.A Group were of course doing the interiors for the refurbishment and advising them on artistic direction for this piece. Minda Dowling, who is an art consultant, then recommended our studio for this particular piece. From there we presented some options and were chosen to move forward!’
A sketch of 'Falling Still'
Falling Still at London Hilton on Park Lane, can you tell us a little about this piece and the design process?
‘What was good is we were brought into the project at a stage when a clear direction and interior palette had been selected and there was only really a question on how this artwork would work in the space. So we started by looking at what’s the purpose and presence of this piece… We wanted it to be iconic and a focal point but we didn’t want it to intrude in the space too much. It was to be a sculptural piece but also divide the lobby space from the guest elevators. I’ve always been interested in these kinds of pieces, you’ve got an idea of what you need to achieve but so many options of how to achieve it.
We enjoyed this creative process… fusing an artistic starting point with a special requirement or an architectural functionality without compromise on either side.’
FF&E Mood Board by G.A Group
‘We knew that people would be walking around the piece and viewing it from all different angles so lighting, material and positioning were really important. We wanted something that didn’t reflect too strongly like a mirror so we introduced an anodized finish which has a kind of softness to it and reflects the light very nicely. That was where the material choice came from as well as the fact that aluminum’s a recycled and recyclable material. The light dances with the leaves and you get this energy and different perspectives as you move around it.
The fixing method we used was innovative to this piece, something we try to encourage within all of our work. Most suspended sculptural pieces are a cluster of components that create a form but, in this instance, we developed and engineered a new design of fixing. This enabled us to choose the exact rotation and angle which each leaf would be held and controlled at to create this kind of rolling effect.’
”Falling Still’ comprises over 2000 aluminium leaves, composed in a static yet energetic explosion, manifesting ideas of movement, togetherness and also individuality. The composition of the piece appears as a kind of tiered wave, rolling through the space.
The name derives from the idea that it’s a frozen moment in time, timeless, capturing the movement of the leaves, whirling through the space and ‘Falling Still’.’
Professional Photography by Nick Smith Photography
Where did the inspiration of leaves come from?
‘G.A presented us with this amazing document outlining their whole approach to the building, which is quite a challenge in itself to communicate the design. London Hilton on Park Lane was an iconic building when it opened in the 60’s, so G.A wanted to infuse the space with this easy glamour while giving it a new lease of life. They introduced me to the sculptor Harry Bertoia from the same era as when the hotel first opened, who I really resonated with… and I must admit I was also very surprised I hadn’t heard of before!
Initially I’d wanted the sculpture to represent movement and the energy of the people who flow through the hotel. There was a tug of war between myself and the client a little bit but they wanted to be clear about the story and pay homage to the beautiful location with Hyde Park right in front. So it was quite a literal translation with the most simplified graphic version of a leaf shape, which I think retrospectively, works really nicely.’
Professional Photography by Nick Smith Photography
What was your aspiration for this piece?
‘The ideal for us is to produce work that then inspires other artists and informs other pieces that are inspired by what we do. Sometimes I don’t think there is enough consideration of art or styling in a space. So our goal was to create a piece of art that balances an artistic sculpture with architectural functionality and in turn inspires others to incorporate these kind of pieces in interiors and hopefully see more and more of this in the future.’
How was the overall experience working with G.A Group?
‘The collaboration worked really well, it was a great team! And, I’m not just saying this for the purpose of this, but it was a perfect collaboration from our side. The client was open minded and happy to let go of the reins to the right degree. It allowed our studio and G.A to have creative freedom which I think is quite a hard thing for clients to do usually, especially a hotel chain…
The interior designers being really front and centre of the commissioning process is fantastic. David & the team perfectly bridged the communication between myself and the client which lead to a balanced collaboration with Hilton. David was constantly supporting me with a lot of the creative decision making and development that we were doing.
It’s a hard thing to commission an art piece, it’s an unfamiliar process for a lot of people as there’s a lot of linguistical and technical elements but G.A really did hold my hand and Hilton’s hand at the same time and guide us through so well, I’ll be forever grateful to David in this team for that. There was obviously issues as we went through the process, but they were able to balance both sides and made the process seamless.
It was a bit of a dream project in terms of the way that it worked and working with G.A, they just got it and it was a good team. So I’m really glad that everyone on all sides has been able to enjoy the results!’
Are you working on any other exciting projects at the minute?
‘Yes, quite a varied range of projects in different places of different scales. We’re trying to build on this piece itself because every project for us is a kind of iteration of an ongoing creative thread.
I’m quite excited about a project we’re doing in Paris at the moment, which is a large-scale mural. That will be a surface-based artwork, which is what we originally worked on as a studio. It’s a very large-scale project just off the Champs Elysees, which is exciting in both context and scale. And then at the same time we’re working on some of the smallest works we’ve done, which is some wearable sculpture and jewellery pieces. So I’m quite enjoying that mix of scale and application which it keeps things fresh for us.’
Thank you Giles for meeting with me and we hope we get the opportunity to collaborate on another project in the future!
See more of the London Hilton on Park Lane project here
See more work by Giles Miller Studio here
