The V&A’s new Storehouse in East London is a publicly accessible storage and display facility, letting visitors explore thousands of museum objects usually hidden from view. I was commissioned to create artwork for a large digital display in the Storehouse's entryway.

The commission needed to use the V&A’s Collections API and most importantly, feel welcoming to a diverse East London audience.

When coming up with ideas, I remembered how I felt walking through the Storehouse before it opened, excited by unexpected pairings of objects stored side by side. So how could I create this experience in digital form?

Normally, the Collections API responds to user queries. But what if I let it wander through the collection simply to explore and discover new objects? Inspired by walking-based art practices like Situationist Dérives and Fluxus walking scores, I created a concept where the API would explore the collection on a neverending journey. The commission's title was a nod to Paul Klee’s quote describing a line as “a dot that went for a walk.” Instead of drawing with a dot, my work would 'draw' with the API.

I worked with developer Arpad Ray to bring the project to life. The API appears as a small glowing dot that draws a line as it travels through a dark interface, using a torchlight to 'see' the objects it discovers.

I manually created over 100 walking prompts after deep research into the Collection’s categories and objects.  

The work also cycles through every object at least once over two years, updating as new objects are added.

This project reminded me that visualisation isn’t always the right solution: my early attempts to force data visualisation into the concept fell flat. It was only when I focused on the audience and let go of assumptions that the right idea emerged.