Dominic Wilcox on inventing
08.09.20. Designer’s office. London
Dominic Wilcox is a London-based designer, artist and inventor. I first came across his work in 2002 when he created The War Bowl, in which he melted down plastic toy soldiers from a particular battle and turned them into, well, a bowl. Since then he has gone on to create a singular space in the design world, with witty creations and drawings that are a combination of David Shrigley and Heath Robinson, with a dash of Vic and Bob thrown in to boot.
In Wilcox’s hands your shoes can tell you where to go, a crane comes out of a hat on top of your head and serves you breakfast, while your car is made of stained glass. Oh and there are art exhibitions designed specifically for dogs.
But this isn’t whimsy. There is logic behind everything he does and a desire to turn the normal things around us into something interesting and surprising. To make life just a little bit better.
More recently, he has been turning his attention to schools, through the Little Inventors Project, which encourages children to use their creativity and come up with new ideas of their own. And this year he has published two books, Little Inventors go Green and Little Inventors in Space.
In this episode he discusses the importance of creativity; how he comes up with his ideas; presenting at the United Nations; his fear of failure; and how he could have been an athletics champion.
Find out more about Dominic Wilcox
The War Bowl was made of melted plastic toy soldiers.
Wilcox created a stained glass car of the future for MINI and Dezeen. Image: Sylvain Deleu.
He has also created an art exhibition for dogs.
This is the Pre-Handshake Handshake Device for people trying to re-build a relationship. All images courtesy of the designer.