James Battersby is influenced heavily by Gothic and science, he opened up his lecture by asking us "what is Gothic", explaining that Gothic is a typeface, interior design, games, literature and film. He then leads onto discussing Gothic Horror and how this inspired him in many different ways and put him where he is today. He beings talking about Gothic Literature and where they all came from, ranging from Dracula to Frankenstein. He then goes onto discuss science of designs; the ergonomics, the anthropometry, and material science. Ergonomics is the study of people and their working conditions and looks at how the body works, Anthropometry is the average measurement of man and Material Science is the study of propertied and applications of materials of construct or manufacture.
James then goes onto discussing "science inspired designs", he talks about when people thought radio was a disease killer as radioactive materials were not understood. Radium, the dangerous element used to create atomic bombs were used heavily in design. Radium heaters were created to keep food warm, radium cosmetics, soaps and medicines. There were many things about radium that was completely misunderstood, such as how people thought radioactive water was good for health. People would use radium in clocks and watches, because of this many people died from radium poisoning in the 20th century. Uranium was also used in ceramics, dinnerware and glass.
Soon he then began to discuss his own practice, where he originally started with Stained glass, however he then began being inspired by different stained glass based on old alchemy. He then started designing cabinets and spice racks based on chemists.
I wont delve too much into what else was said here, but I will explain how I have been influenced by his work during my research assignment at a later date.
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