ES DEVLIN’S ‘OTHER WORLDS’ INVITES US TO RECOGNISE THE CREATORS WITHIN US
words by BEX WHITLEY
What do Louis Vuitton, Stormzy and the United Nations have in common? The answer: Es Devlin. Over the years, each has sought the creative vision of the British artist, whose previous creations range from theatre and opera sets to monumental public installations, Olympic ceremonies and kinetic stage sculptures for some of the world’s biggest musicians.
Es Devlin photographed in Es Devlin: Other Worlds at the Design Museum, photography DANIEL DEVLIN
Those who have followed the artist’s life and art are likely already aware of her ability to transcend the confines of any one creative discipline.If you’re unfamiliar with her name, you may nevertheless have encountered her work, now embedded in the worlds of music, art, theatre and design. The true definition of a “multihyphenate”, her three-decade career has resisted being neatly defined by any one medium.
Today, London’s Design Museum will open its doors to an exhibition honouring her life and work, described by the artist as “an act of resistance” against an increasingly digital world. The private opening, which took place earlier this week, began with an intimate Q&A with Devlin and exhibition curator Johanna Agerman Ross. Devlin’s conviction surrounding art’s role in the world was evident throughout, her beliefs seemingly inseparable from her creative practice. In response to questions about her process, she returned often to everyday encounters with people and their art. Given that the exhibition places human experience at its centre,feels all the more powerful for knowing the extent to which this belief informs her work.
Es Devlin photographed amongst her archive, photography DANIEL DEVLIN
Equally, what struck me was her perception around the inclusion of others within her creations. Since opening her first studio 30 years ago, Devlin has built a team of multidiscplinary artists, most of whom are female. Instead of hiding this, she honours her team throughout, drawing once again on the power of the collective. Where her own hands remain at the beginning of each piece, those of her trusted team take over, expanding on her vision to create work shaped by many hands. Hands have become pivotal in a very literal sense for Devlin, who repeatedly returns to the value of human making within a world muddied with technology. “We’re all artists, we’re all designers” she claims, explaining that she fundamentally believes that we live in a creative world, where our capacity to be creative individuals exists.
Es Devlin photographed in Es Devlin: Other Worlds at the Design Museum, photography DANIEL DEVLIN
The exhibition itself brings together three decades of Devlin’s practice, moving between artworks, installations, film and the largest solo presentation of her archive to date. Visitors begin inside a recreation of her South London studio, before moving through the projects, drawings, models and objects that reveal how those initial ideas became fully realised worlds.
The finale, An Infinite Library, features an eight-metre-wide triangular bookshelf containing more than 2,000 books. Rotating above a circular mirror, it is illuminated by projections and accompanied by Devlin’s voice reading selected passages aloud. The titles, each personally significant to her, include Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and James Gleick’s Chaos. Many are well-thumbed copies from her own shelves; others were provided by Penguin Random House UK and will be donated to local schools and charities when the exhibition closes.
Es Devlin photographed in Es Devlin: Other Worlds at the Design Museum, photography DANIEL DEVLIN
According to Es Devlin, the installation speaks of the resilience of books and reading, with their power to allow us to “create our own inner worlds” and “enter the minds of others”. Where reading is often considered an entirely personal endeavour, she suggests it can also become an act of collective participation. In an era of mass distraction, she argues, the concept of shared concentration feels more necessary than ever.
Es Devlin - Other Worlds, will be open to the public from the 2nd October 2026 to 4th April 2027 bringing together hundreds of archival objects, including concept drawings, photographs, personal objects and ephemera, alongside more than 30 intricate models. Devlin sees the audience’s response as part of the work itself, and while each visitor’s response is deeply personal, Other Worlds left me with equal parts awe at the scale of what Devlin has created and hope in her belief in our collective capacity to create change.