Heath Robinson Prompt Project

Take a few pulleys and wheels, throw in some balloons and boffins, tie them all up with knotted string and you have a creation that might have been created by William Heath Robinson.

 

Taking our cue from Mr Robinson, in 2018/19 we created a prompt-based project inspired by his humour, creativity, commentaries on social history, and unique contraptions. We each picked random prompts in four categories, giving us a theme, a book structure, techniques, and materials to use in creating an artist’s book, with the option of adding a fifth, ‘wild card’ prompt: What if you…

 

Our results were widely varied, stretching the bounds of ‘book art’ but embracing lateral thinking and improbable solutions. We feel sure that Heath Robinson would have been pleased!

 

Click or tap on photos with artist's name to see what the prompts were for each piece.