Time after Time / Andre Williams

Time after Time was part of London Design Festival 2026, on show in the mirrored room at the Victoria & Albert Museum from 12 September to 18 October.

The work fuses the traditions of clockmaking and soundsystem design. Andre’s longcase clock sits on the zigzag parquet floor of the unique 18th century mirrored room in the V&A’s Europe 1600-1800 galleries. In this gilded, oval room, time is marked by the hands of the clock and audible through encased speakers playing mixtapes selected by Williams throughout the day. Decorated with motifs from Ndebele (Southern Africa) and Bamiléké (Cameroon) the clock is accompanied by an easel designed by Williams, which holds a framed drawing by artist Dawn Wilson of Birmingham Soundsystem “Youthman Promotion".

Drawing has always been a primary activity and starting point for imagining Andre Williams' furniture and interiors. The way his furniture appears to spring from the page is likened to a pop up book, where we are not sure what is two dimensional and what is three dimensional, further enhanced by his distinct sense of colour and pattern.

Working with myself, Exchange Director Peter Nutley and Owen Rimington, Andre’s vision for his longcase clock, that fuses the traditions of clockmaking and soundsystem design, came to life. Bringing Andre’s oblique drawing into three dimensions was an act of careful interpretation.

The clock structure was made over a few weeks, as I worked with a team of community makers, learning timber craft techniques, in The Exchange’s Timber Workshop. On completion of the structure Andre hand-painted the clock.