Info
william1button@gmail.com
@buttonbuttonbuttonbuton
William Button (b. 1999 North Yorkshire) lives and works in London as a multidisciplinary designer and maker. He graduated with a first class BA in Fine Art from Central St Martins in 2021. His work ranges from writing and sculpture to sound, product and accessory design.
Buttons work suffuses waste vintage acetate, antique acrylic dice from Istanbul and discarded buffalo horn spectacles inspired by childhood dreams of sycamore seeds. Lazer cut aluminium backgammon boards are swaddled in reclaimed waxed suede whilst frosted glass and tracing paper alike obscure the forms of lacerating flint microliths. His magpie like attitude to using waste, natural and found materials joins a visual language rooted in a minimalist material honesty influenced in no small part by the land art and arte povera movements of the late 1960s.
Historically, his sculptures in aluminium, glass and plywood have assessed how we present our understanding of history. Buttons work mimics museum infrastructures, mounts and vitrines used to array objects, in addition to pheromone moth traps used to remove pests from exhibits. His intentional blurring, removing and obscuring of the traditional focal point, the artefact, leaves the highly formalised frameworks of historical presentation to stand alone. Who narrates our history? What story’s are told? Button presents armatures upon which narratives grow. Their titles hint at past objects whose functions have been long since rendered obsolete, inviting the viewer to reinvent their forms amongst branching mounts and clouded surfaces.
Education
2021
Central St Martins, First, BA Fine Art
London
Exhibitions/Publications