https://dbarrington.com David Barrington Sat, 19 Sep 2026 01:59:29 +0000 https://dbarrington.com en https://dbarrington.com/Header-video Fri, 07 Aug 2020 08:22:35 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/Header-video Design for music, retail and cultural projects, alongside installation, sound and text-based art.︎︎︎Scroll down for selected work. https://dbarrington.com/Studio-improvisation-intro Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:02:31 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/Studio-improvisation-intro ︎ Studioimprovisation 08.08.26 -09.08.26 ︎︎︎Sound/Art installation ︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎ https://dbarrington.com/Studio-improvisation-1 Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:03:12 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/Studio-improvisation-1 ︎ ︎Client – self-initiated︎Role – artist --- Artists statement&nbsp; Studio improvisationInstalled 8th – 9th August 2026 &nbsp; &nbsp; Two circular mirrors, polystyrene beads, blue and red light, and layered sound. Echo operates as a device of repetition across both the visual and sonic material. The work suggests an oscillation between microscopic and infinite scales. If the sublime can be understood as emerging through this instability of scale over time, Gilbert Simondon’s theory of individuation becomes relevant. For Simondon, the individual is never complete or self-contained, but emerges through an ongoing process of individuation while retaining the unresolved, preindividual potential from which it formed. Echo acts as feedback between scales. Continually re-fed, reflected and repeated, it sustains a tension that never fully resolves into equilibrium or fixed substance. ---- &nbsp; &nbsp; Wanting to push my creativity as far as I can, I wanted to see if I could improvise a sound and sculpture installation in under four days. &nbsp; &nbsp;Beneath the offices where I work are a series of audio studios for burgeoning musicians. When the studio owner told me they were moving out, I negotiated to use one of the empty spaces over a weekend.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Far from a sterile white cube, each studio has LED lighting around the walls, with hue control. So a very loaded space, but I very interesting one. &nbsp; This wasn’t a public exhibition, more an opportunity to see what I could do if pushed, establish my practice and document the evidence for future work.&nbsp; Very big thank-you to Dominic for so kindly letting me use the space! ----- ︎︎︎Press play to hear the accompanying audio piece ︎︎︎Installation details <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5e451b3623ff0917a56b63315dd647fa184347e7702cae6a1e5c50f10030432f/3.jpg" data-mid="252271638" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5e451b3623ff0917a56b63315dd647fa184347e7702cae6a1e5c50f10030432f/3.jpg" /><img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/da7cc9671d4eda9e0e518e424691d5d04e3dba5f95ee1bdf367bbfcf5ad597fc/IMG_3160.JPG" data-mid="252274126" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/da7cc9671d4eda9e0e518e424691d5d04e3dba5f95ee1bdf367bbfcf5ad597fc/IMG_3160.JPG" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a3266da8253200b7d55640fbc95d3471d4b77f358d971bfcf9f22c81aff85c7b/IMG_3127.JPG" data-mid="252271681" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a3266da8253200b7d55640fbc95d3471d4b77f358d971bfcf9f22c81aff85c7b/IMG_3127.JPG" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3041d490907b81a55b7cd37a9bc6243d63d5ae4f1282791ee11e03a50d846254/IMG_3134.JPG" data-mid="252271646" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3041d490907b81a55b7cd37a9bc6243d63d5ae4f1282791ee11e03a50d846254/IMG_3134.JPG" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/176752f8a28894c8e5baeb24c8d54294ea0dcba7b8d6a2ebce1f0946c027a229/IMG_3157.JPG" data-mid="252271688" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/176752f8a28894c8e5baeb24c8d54294ea0dcba7b8d6a2ebce1f0946c027a229/IMG_3157.JPG" /><img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5baa948587b97301e85f56375d0c37d544c881bdecc643fdfd4d38da21176f9/IMG_3164.JPG" data-mid="252271695" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e5baa948587b97301e85f56375d0c37d544c881bdecc643fdfd4d38da21176f9/IMG_3164.JPG" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/008e18740c804233f536e42bc2c2e323c41342c93ce069abd7ddc166ee4823dc/IMG_3153.JPG" data-mid="252274106" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/008e18740c804233f536e42bc2c2e323c41342c93ce069abd7ddc166ee4823dc/IMG_3153.JPG" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5cee4b2caf7d6bf5e63ee7f4bafe871d82296990d72669b245cca1523a0c70cf/IMG_3150.JPG" data-mid="252271683" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5cee4b2caf7d6bf5e63ee7f4bafe871d82296990d72669b245cca1523a0c70cf/IMG_3150.JPG" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d35e938ecebe757603658886fc1b9be61e75c771654b5a23fad98004cc70d7b7/IMG_3144.JPG" data-mid="252271709" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d35e938ecebe757603658886fc1b9be61e75c771654b5a23fad98004cc70d7b7/IMG_3144.JPG" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1248ea25d3d7220cf4a120780819c0b4eb2cc727f4f38d11659d3aae44e001f1/IMG_3139.JPG" data-mid="252274096" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1248ea25d3d7220cf4a120780819c0b4eb2cc727f4f38d11659d3aae44e001f1/IMG_3139.JPG" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f0dde8e0439fac889cc6a34ce4f0f93f325b1c2ad784e898f847dbd2698dc06d/IMG_3131.JPG" data-mid="252271568" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f0dde8e0439fac889cc6a34ce4f0f93f325b1c2ad784e898f847dbd2698dc06d/IMG_3131.JPG" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/17230c7f22c81c9ad60abb16f7aa4c59fc95fe3a2b45fcd253bcdf4c7f8d8aa0/IMG_3149.JPG" data-mid="252271694" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/17230c7f22c81c9ad60abb16f7aa4c59fc95fe3a2b45fcd253bcdf4c7f8d8aa0/IMG_3149.JPG" /> <img width="3343" height="4332" width_o="3343" height_o="4332" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6d0dab3f956079a45b94c5a6057f727eff614b23889f32ec7fc9cb0b76956754/IMG_3152.JPG" data-mid="252274640" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6d0dab3f956079a45b94c5a6057f727eff614b23889f32ec7fc9cb0b76956754/IMG_3152.JPG" /><img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd0a55a203829ddb90bc56b9d2ec26fb9f60e1808912119fc48336c58c0d770b/IMG_3147-2.JPG" data-mid="252271698" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fd0a55a203829ddb90bc56b9d2ec26fb9f60e1808912119fc48336c58c0d770b/IMG_3147-2.JPG" /> https://dbarrington.com/A-selection-of-sound-pieces-intro Fri, 18 Sep 2026 19:09:02 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/A-selection-of-sound-pieces-intro ︎ A selection ofsound pieces. ︎︎︎Audio ︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎ https://dbarrington.com/A-selection-of-sound-pieces-1 Sat, 19 Sep 2026 01:59:29 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/A-selection-of-sound-pieces-1 ︎ ︎Client – self-initiated︎Role – artist A selection of sound pieces. These early standalone works explore how a technology or process can shape a composition, treating the machine as a collaborator: an other that brings things to a piece I wouldn't find alone. The challenge is to stay emotionally evocative, which for me remains essential to any artwork. Writing about them for this page has helped me unpick connections I wasn't aware of when I made them, and place them in a broader theoretical frame. &nbsp; &nbsp;01 Harmonic drift for Korg Prophecy.34 minutes 44 seconds. Improvised in one take on a Korg Prophecy synthesiser. A single key is sellotaped down, leaving both hands free to slowly retune the two oscillators so they drift in and out of phase, whilst delay and chorus are adjusted in real time.As they drift, they pass through moments of pure tuning, though built on a single note. The piece never settles, harmonically or emotionally – a metastable state, in Gilbert Simondon's sense, charged with potential it never fully resolves. &nbsp;02 You’re my thrill forYamaha SU10 sampler.3 minutes 20 seconds. Made over a few days, this piece predominantly uses a Yamaha SU10, one of Yamaha's first portable, battery-operated samplers. It was extremely limited in memory and sequencing, but featured a ribbon controller for changing parameters in real time. As I learnt its quirks, I set its rawness and glitch against the polished surfaces of Julie London's easy-listening recording of "You're My Thrill". The glitches come from using the ribbon to move the sample's start and end points; her voice and the instrumental parts were smeared further with granular synthesis in software. Analogous to a car crash seen in slow motion, the processing of the track elongates its drama and intimacy whilst simultaneously rupturing its chrome-like surfaces through collapse and digital error, reminiscent of the collisions of sex and technology in J.G. Ballard’s Crash. 03 Slowed.4 minutes 50 seconds. An exploration of the layering and collaging possibilities of digital audio workstation software, recording onto a Sony MiniDisc and resampling it back into the computer. MiniDisc was interesting as a format because slowing down a recording made on it exposes aspects of ATRAC compression that were designed specifically to remain hidden at normal playback speed. ATRAC removes information on the assumption that the listener cannot perceive it. Changing the playback speed opens a universe of defects, glitches and tonal colour, so the degradation becomes part of the piece. 04 Eponifir.2 minutes 42 seconds.Made in MetaSynth, an esoteric piece of software that turns images and shapes into sound. Every process is committed directly to the audio, and each section of the timeline can be treated differently in minute detail, closer to editing film than playing an instrument. The piece attempts something piano-like without a piano, or any keyboard at all. No notes were played in; everything was shaped and sequenced on screen. https://dbarrington.com/Prism-intro Sat, 19 Sep 2026 01:39:39 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/Prism-intro ︎ Prism. ︎︎︎A short story ︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎ https://dbarrington.com/Prism-1 Fri, 18 Sep 2026 19:12:08 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/Prism-1 ︎ ︎Client – self-initiated︎Role – writer A short story. Prism. A triangular block of glass is placed onto the middle of the table, the rocker switch on the side of the lighting apparatus is moved to the ‘on’ position. There’s a slight hum from the power supply and the straight beam, which now illuminates the dust along its path, is repositioned to intersect the block. Red – Falls between roughly 620 nanometres (next to orange) and 750 nanometres on the spectrum. "Look, I've resigned myself to where I am right now, and I'm kinda happy about that. Okay, in the past I know I could be a little intense, maybe, I'm better now. You should have listened, that's all I'm gonna say, you should have listened. No one ever listens to me." Orange – A portion of the visible light spectrum with a dominant wavelength roughly between 590 and 620 nanometres. "I'm good. I feel good right now. I'm in a good place. Things are good for me now. I really feel like I'm finally happy. So many things are coming together for me now, why does everyone have to ruin it for me? What with everything I've been through with white, I really feel like I deserve to be happy right now. Can you all be okay with that please?" Yellow – Falls in the middle of the visible light spectrum, sitting between green and orange with wavelengths of roughly 570 to 590 nanometres. "Look, I just want to put everything that happened before into the past. I know it was bad. Orange, I know it was tough for you, and what with everything else. We just need to move on. This is a new chapter for us. I'm trying to move on, like we all should. I know this all seems very new and it's scary. I'm as scared as you are. The past is the past. Jesus, can't we just move on?" Green – With a dominant wavelength of roughly 495 to 570 nanometres, green is positioned between yellow and blue on the visible light spectrum. "Red, seriously? I'm with yellow on this ...I can't deal with all this anymore. I just want to be myself. I've tried so hard to do what everyone wants and it's so exhausting. I'm just gonna chill here, if you want to join me... feel free... yellow, blue?" Blue – Sits between green and indigo on the visible spectrum, with wavelengths from 450 to 495 nanometres and relatively high energy compared with warmer colours. "Can't we just try and get on? I love you guys, but you make it so hard, all this bickering, it's really getting me down. Remember how we used to be, back in the day? What happened to us? Red, violet? You guys really need to wake up because I feel like the rest of us are all trying to sort this out. We can't be white anymore, it's over. Deal with it." Indigo – Traditionally placed between blue and violet on the visible spectrum, occupying an approximate range around 420 to 450 nanometres, though its boundaries are not sharply defined. "Okay, okay, okay, red, blue... yes. Yes you green. ...let's slow it down, everyone. I know a lot of things are happening right now and it's a lot, but we need to breathe. Come on breathe with me. That's it, nice and slow. No, red. I'm not being bossy, it's just a suggestion. I just want to help. Red, okay, okay. I'm hearing you. Just remember no one asked for this. Especially me." Violet – Occupies wavelengths of roughly 380 to 450 nanometres at the short-wavelength end of the visible spectrum, overlapping with indigo. "Indigo... Don't, just don't, I've heard it all before ...I'm not gonna fucking breathe with you." The rocker switch is now moved to the ‘off’ position, the dust returns to invisibility, and the room is quiet again. https://dbarrington.com/Heal-s-LDF-26-intro Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:57:27 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/Heal-s-LDF-26-intro ︎ Heal’s London Design Festival 2026 ︎︎︎ Exhibition design. ︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎ https://dbarrington.com/Heal-s-LDF-26 Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:58:09 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/Heal-s-LDF-26 ︎ ︎Client – Heal’s︎Role – Senior in-house graphic designer &nbsp; &nbsp;Exhibition design for Heal’s entry into London Design Festival, entitled “Future icons”.&nbsp; &nbsp;The ten pieces chosen for the campaign are very spread out across the two floors of the store, so in order to tie them together and to make them visible across a dark and busy shop, I chose to use some really fun iridescent vinyl, paired with modernist swiss-leaning type.&nbsp; &nbsp; A hugely enjoyable project where I got to make almost everything by hand, so ultimately very rewarding.︎︎︎London Design Festival webpage ︎︎︎Selected in store panels<img width="2943" height="2179" width_o="2943" height_o="2179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/146669fbc5d246118588ef06b0b4abbed4784f72afd1123140fba758202d6a9a/ldf26-detail.jpg" data-mid="252270188" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/146669fbc5d246118588ef06b0b4abbed4784f72afd1123140fba758202d6a9a/ldf26-detail.jpg" /> <img width="3859" height="2958" width_o="3859" height_o="2958" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/022425523976533894cc33894acff7b5e7a40488815bff84dc3eadd1c801aed2/intro-sofa.jpg" data-mid="252269877" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/022425523976533894cc33894acff7b5e7a40488815bff84dc3eadd1c801aed2/intro-sofa.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7c2fa4e211f3c8c986d54b81f1251be62bd03b7e3312d983078fca9b9553bed2/IMG_4547.JPG" data-mid="252268264" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7c2fa4e211f3c8c986d54b81f1251be62bd03b7e3312d983078fca9b9553bed2/IMG_4547.JPG" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d06de3035c2b5e99d8f04c63c44b04e6bf29ba2c3e24c801e8dc02ddbee56ff2/fisher.jpg" data-mid="252270203" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d06de3035c2b5e99d8f04c63c44b04e6bf29ba2c3e24c801e8dc02ddbee56ff2/fisher.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1633" width_o="2000" height_o="1633" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1205b5941bb5dbb76ffdd9f8ffbcd29398e7716bc04c60d087141933e3066dfc/arch.jpg" data-mid="252268640" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1205b5941bb5dbb76ffdd9f8ffbcd29398e7716bc04c60d087141933e3066dfc/arch.jpg" /> ︎︎︎LDF website banner <img width="4838" height="3020" width_o="4838" height_o="3020" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8861eb4d5ec97e7922b702420df9f75aabc13fd8082e4ca80c0c34b3c24c36e3/Screenshot-2026-09-17-at-14.32.01.jpg" data-mid="252262673" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8861eb4d5ec97e7922b702420df9f75aabc13fd8082e4ca80c0c34b3c24c36e3/Screenshot-2026-09-17-at-14.32.01.jpg" /> https://dbarrington.com/As-long-as-intro Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:47:20 +0000 David Barrington https://dbarrington.com/As-long-as-intro ︎ As long as gravity persists on holding me to this earth ︎︎︎ Cassette sleeve design ︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎