Portrait of UVA founders Matt Clark, Chris Bird and Ash Nehru

United Visual Artists (UVA), established in 2003 by Chris Bird, Matt Clark and Ash Nehru, creates large-scale, light-based installations that are as much about spectacle as they are about people. Each installation translates into a powerful social experience that turns the audience into active participants and collaborators. The London-based UVA has worked with Giorgio Armani, Prada, Sony, Nokia, The Chemical Brothers and Battles, and continues to research and develop works with a wide range of artists and companies.

Who or what inspires you?
Art, design, music, travel, life experiences in general. It’s hard to pick out any one thing. The process at UVA is a collaborative one both internally and externally. We draw on each other’s skills and influences for inspiration.

What makes the UVA collaborative dynamic unique?
UVA is one part artist’s studio, one part commercial design company and one part R&D laboratory. No one at UVA comes from the same background or education, so I guess it’s the cross-pollination of skills that gives us an interesting dynamic.

What unites everyone at United Visual Artists?
The name was initially considered ‘tongue-in-cheek’ but as the company has grown we realise it actually describes us very well - many people with different skills working together to create art.

Volume installation by United Visual Artists

Recent event that made you laugh?
We recently had a deadline brought forward for a huge project, we laughed but it was at the insanity of the request.

What attracted you to light as a medium?
When we started UVA we were predominately designing for live performance, using light to create a focal point for a large audience. With our installation work we created spaces where people were completely immersed, experiencing light on a very intimate level. We became more and more fascinated by the notion of light as a presence, how it changes the way people relate to the space around them, and to others.

Hereafter installation by United Visual Artists to be featured at the Flux Super 8 show

What inspired Hereafter?
Hereafter has to do with memory and perception of time. We want viewers to question their own sense of time, when interacting with the piece certain moments seem to pass without notice, but at times of high emotion, time itself seems to slow. The illusion of discreet divisions of time is shattered – forcing us to revaluate how time continues with or without our consent or control.

Dream project?
We’ve generally been moving away from music work to focus more on our artworks, but we’ve always wanted to work with Radiohead, Bjork and Kraftwerk.

United Visual Artists created Massive Attack’s 2003 stage set and visuals and are currently working on their latest tour which starts in September.

What (new projects) are you working on now?
We are designing live shows for Jay-Z and Massive Attack as they are both going on tour to promote new albums out in the autumn / winter. We have recently created an artwork for the New York Times magazine cover in collaboration with Tom Hingston which is out in August. There are also a number of large scale permanent artworks that we have been commissioned, including a 70 meter long, 5 meter wide glass and light canopy for a new development in Toronto.

See United Visual Artist’s installation Hereafter at the Flux Super 8 exhibition, August 15 - September 5, 2009 at Scion Installation L.A. Space; 3521 Helms Ave. (at National); Culver City, CA; +1-310-815-8840