Our final guest lecture of the year came from Heinrich & Palmer, a partnership centred around a multimedia installation and intervention company. Much like AG Studios, they have created a team of people to tackle even the most challenging of commissions. Something different about Heinrich and & Palmer is there use of 3D and virtual media to blur the boundaries between reality and illusion, which I found very interesting. Having worked together since the early 90s, the pair are extremely well established and have many contacts which comes in handy when working on difficult briefs.

 

They talked about how their practise is centred around finding ‘a sense of place’ for all areas of their work. For example, they like to go to the site first, to grasp how it looks, sits, and operates before coming up with a solution to the problem. Having worked on sites such as museums, heritage sites, country parks and the public realm, this is a very considered approach, but one I can appreciate as a great way to work. 

 

I enjoyed their seminar; it gave an insightful look into the way this company operates but also how to deliver a professional service. I also really liked how they talked about developing community engagement, by finding out what the community wanted/needed and acting upon that. This resonated with me because I feel that often companies do carry out work, without considering how this might impact this might have on the communities that have to live with it. They also made some excellent point about networking, which is something I absolutely need to do now I’m coming to the end of my course. 

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