The London System

‘The London System’, is a large scale, free-to-play chess installation at the Off The Shelf pavilion at Olympia, a 130+ year old exhibition centre in west London from 20 Jan - 28 Feb, 2025.

It’s a handcrafted chess set that blends traditional gameplay with a pared-back design, and is located seconds away from Kensington (Olympia) station. Olympia will start opening its doors later this year following its £1.3bn transformation that will see it become London’s newest cultural destination. As part of the lead up to the opening, Vickie Hayward, of Company, Place has commissioned work from artists and designers to enliven the space.

My hope is that the project, which is a nod to the classic chess opening, ‘The London System’, encourages people to get out and play in a traditionally morose time of year. January can feel gloomy, and I wanted to try and bring people together to spend time at the pavilion, engaging with the game, with each other, and with their surroundings.

Mostly, I love chess, and this project was an excuse to combine my obsessions: a game I love to play, local materials, and solid craftsmanship. We made the pieces from London Plane wood sourced from a felled tree in nearby Kensington Park Gardens by Fallen and Felled, a local company that sustainably fells urban trees into hardwood timber. The photo below is of them looking epic while cutting it down. I don’t know the exact reason it was slated for removal, though Jesse Beagley, the designer and woodworker I worked with making the pieces, said it was likely because of rot, as he’d found some signs of it when cutting through a few of the timber boards.

To create the black pieces, I ebonised half of the chess set, a simple process which blackens the wood’s surface by creating a chemical reaction between the tannins in the wood and a solution made from steel wool and white vinegar. The tannin content varied between the pieces, so the black set look marbled. There are swirling areas of feather grey interspersed with inky areas. To make the chessboard itself, I painstakingly taped off a grid and then sprayed the pavilion’s floor with white removable spray chalk.

The London System will be available for people to come and enjoy from Monday 20 January, and will be open every day from 10am to 6pm until 28 February.

See you for a game?