The Joy of Sets
Ben Randall, the co-owner of Cloud & Horse, is intimately familiar with the work of Greenwich Peninsula’s famous former resident, Damien Hirst. So familiar, in fact, as he used to help create some of Hirst’s better-known artworks.
“I was in the butterfly studio, making the paintings formed from butterfly wings,” recalls the British set designer. “You’d design these grids, have some freedom as to what colour you’d put in, though Damien would specify the dominant colours. We did a few spot paintings, too. The guys in the pill studio were upstairs, working on the pharmaceutical art.”
Randall’s time in the fine-art world came in handy when he switched from butterfly canvases to creating props and backgrounds for Cloud & Horse, the set-fabrication business he runs from Greenwich Peninsula with his business partner, Sean Wild.
“You’d design these grids, have some freedom as to what colour you’d put in, though Damien would specify the dominant colours. We did a few spot paintings, too. The guys in the pill studio were upstairs, working on the pharmaceutical art.”
The firm has made everything from a phony Trojan horse for Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s TV series The Trip, through to music video backgrounds for recording artists such as Jungle, Tinie Tempah and Rizzle Kicks, photoshoot backdrops for publications including Dazed & Confused, House & Garden and Wallpaper* magazines, and set-ups for brands like Tom Dixon, Love Island, Adidas and Zandra Rhodes.
At a time when so much visual creativity is digitally mediated, Randall says there’s something deeply satisfying about having to create scenery that looks convincing to the naked eye with little more than paint and carpentry tools. “It can be really rewarding,” he says, “though it can also be a bit funny to put a week or two’s work into something and it can be at an event for three hours.”
In the past, Cloud & Horse have created entirely convincing Victorian living rooms – complete with wooden flooring, fireplace and ornate coving – only to see the set-up photographed for a few seconds.
“You've got the winners from the Design District space x Dazed & Confused competition here, there are university students around, and there’s even a golf range on your doorstep, it’s great. There’s always someone around”
The shelf life of the finished product, though, has little influence on its quality. Ben and co take great pride in employing people such as the renowned scenic artist Tommy Jolliffe, who was worked on productions such as the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day, World War II drama Band of Brothers, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
“He’s amazing, but expensive,” says Randall. “You give him a piece of canvas, 20ft by 12ft, and a day, and he’ll recreate any scene: hill, sunsets, houses, anything.”
Yet, while the briefs often call for the creation of the most fantastic, far-flung settings, Cloud & Horse are quite satisfied with their local mise en scène on Greenwich Peninsula. “You've got the winners from the Design District Space X Dazed & Confused competition here, there are university students around, and there’s even a golf range on your doorstep,” Randall says. “It’s great. There’s always someone around.” Within that vibrant, creative background right on the banks of the Thames, Cloud & Horse blend in perfectly.
