The name Steve Assem may not ring a bell immediately. However, his work – especially his photos – circulate extensively on Instagram. Nonetheless, he himself states that a picture of his work doesn’t convey the full experience; you have to witness it in person to truly feel it in the context of its surroundings, the light, and the space. Interior Pulp spoke with the experiential artist residing in the UK.
Spoiler alert: the photos in this article are real. So, you are seeing installations that were truly executed in those environments. No AI or Photoshop. With the digital imagery overload of everyday life, it’s easy to forget that there are still real images of actual installations being created. Steve Assem has been making inflatable installations for over 20 years, long before the era of social media, Instagram, or Dali. From his studio near London in Dunham, he discusses his unique journey.
I genuinely create pieces around or in collaboration with buildings, on rivers, or within landscapes. This is primarily to make people think about the environment they are in, hence the importance of the real experience.
How would you describe yourself?
“I’m an artist who integrates temporary and unique artworks into places, often in connection with or underneath nature, historic buildings, or architecture. My work is highly transient, often visible for only a few days or weeks and then permanently gone. My artwork continues to exist only in photos or in your memories if you’ve truly experienced it.”
You mentioned uniqueness. Are the inflatables not reused?
“No, I genuinely create pieces around or in collaboration with buildings, on rivers, or within landscapes. This is primarily to make people think about the environment they are in, hence the importance of the real experience. Before the installation takes place, we conduct an extensive study of the building and its surroundings. What works in one place may not work in another location.”
What do you do with the artworks afterward?
“Everything is recycled, either by other artists, in the fashion industry, or back as a PET ingredient. This used to be more challenging in the past, but contemporary materials are much more suitable for recycling.”
How did you come up with the idea to work with inflatable design 20 years ago?
“I have always been interested in large shapes pulled out of their context. I found it incredibly fascinating as an artist that when you make something as large as a house, much larger than a human, it immediately has an impact. ‘Scale as an art form.’ I was contacted 20 years ago by the tourism department to create attention for a nature reserve here in the UK outside of the tourist season. They had seen my work that I had done for a small music festival at the time. Creating an impact in nature was, of course, my dream, so I was literally over the moon with the assignment. I then spent two weeks in the midst of beautiful mountains and lakes creating a floating installation on a 6 km long river using ‘PVC sealed inflatables.’ What was crucial at the time was speaking the language of the landscape: the river was surrounded by giant mountains, so I had to make an impact in terms of both color and size.”
And then the ball started rolling?
“Yes, indeed. Since then, I have been continuously working globally on designing installations for both commercial and non-commercial clients. Often around historic buildings, landscapes, factories, or simply a city as a playground. Clients mainly ask me to create media impact with my installations. One thing is certain: every installation is a strong photograph. Good images are picked up much faster by the press or social media than a good story. In the case of tourist board assignments, it is often not just about the photo of the work but also about the experience of the visitors – which is still the most important aspect of what I do.”
Do you consider social media a blessing or a curse?
(laughs) Instagram has been an incredible journey for me. Through that medium, I now literally receive requests from all over the world. I’m not really into Instagram myself, but people tag me from all corners of the globe. In the past, if I appeared in a newspaper, I had to consider myself lucky if the right people happened to read the article that day. Today, everything on social media lasts forever. On the other hand, I also have a love-hate relationship with social media because everything has become so ‘shallow.’ People miss out on a lot by looking at their smartphones; some would be better off experiencing things in person (winks). So when people say they know my work from a photo, they don’t really know it. How the light falls on my installation, how it relates to the landscape, what the surrounding experience is like – these are things that cannot be conveyed in a photo or video.”
With the advent of AI, it won’t make things easier, will it?
Well, that’s the contradiction of the story. AI has actually made people want to truly experience my work because it’s not fake. People today assume that if they see an image, it’s not real. And when they learn that it is real, they are even more motivated to see it in person. That is incredibly interesting and something I had not anticipated at all. ‘Real experiences’ will, in my opinion, become even more popular through AI.”
How do you see AI evolving in your field?
“We have become a society driven by images, so we will be inundated with beautiful images that aren’t real. Therefore, I expect a counter-movement, a reverse world of AI. Experience art, experience advertising, experience design, etc. Seeing something in real life will always hold value, even in this digital age.”
Do you use AI in your work?
“No, I work traditionally. First, I make sketches with a pencil, then 3D drawings in Sketchup that I place in photos of the building or landscape where the installation will go. We also create mock-ups of the object and, finally, produce photorealistic renders. This process is essential so that the client knows what they will get, and it is also a study of the light, how people will approach the work, and so on. We even go so far as to consider how people will photograph the work on their smartphones because we know that those images will circulate on social media. It’s pointless for us to create renders from a wide-angle lens on our end because those images won’t be shared via social media. The memories on people’s phones last longer than the artwork itself.”
Color is always a significant element in everything you do?
“Form and color are the two factors I play with the most because they both create visual impact. In my opinion, a green landscape demands a bright red color because it creates both contradiction and identity. This year, I created some works with deep blue that look completely different depending on whether you are close or far away. So color can also interfere in that aspect.”
Your installations are large and exposed to the elements. It seems like a tremendous challenge?
“My greatest enemy is wind; rain, in itself, is not a problem. The installations are usually only in place for a few days or a maximum of two weeks – a period during which weather forecasts are still fairly reliable. Anything standing longer than two weeks is always difficult because an installation that has to withstand winds of more than 70 km/h must be built entirely differently. Fortunately, not much has gone wrong in those 20 years, because we sometimes delay installation for a few days when the weather is too bad.”
Are there artists you look up to?
“Of course, Christo and Anish Kapoor. I didn’t know either of them when I started 20 years ago, but just like in what I do, space and color are their playground.”
Finally, what are you working on today, and what are your ambitions?
“I’m working on commercial projects that I can’t talk about, but there’s an installation planned for the European Capital of Culture in Timisoara, Romania, in the coming months. Furthermore, I would love to create an installation in a National Park in the United States. There are incredible landscapes there, and that’s where I could really immerse myself.”
