Boxbot started as a simple idea: that recycling could have another life — not as waste, but as play. I created it as a kind of “rubbish revolution”, inviting people to turn cardboard into robots, costumes and characters. It was deliberately lo‑fi, hands‑on and joyful, designed to get children and adults making side by side.
What began as a small participatory experiment quickly grew. Boxbot became a residency at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club (alongside nights like You Me Bum Bum Train), before travelling to Camp Bestival, Hoxton Hall and schools across London. It was eventually commissioned by Cedar Lewisohn at Tate Modern to run the main workshop stage on the Southbank Lawn as part of UBS Openings: The Long Weekend — a festival that drew over 100,000 people in a single day.
The project sat neatly alongside Tate’s Arte Povera exhibition — “poor art” made from everyday materials — and we built a whole world around it: circuit‑benders, set designers, performance pieces, and a short film created with ORDER to run on the day. Boxbot ended up featured across culture blogs and media channels, and led to nearly a year’s worth of workshops at festivals, schools and corporate events.
It was messy, communal, inventive and full of heart — and it taught me a lot about participation, creative confidence and the power of making things with your hands. Those ideas still shape how I work today.
Box Bot was formerly a club night in The Bethnal Green Working Mens Club before running 3-day pop-up workshops for the likes of The Tate Modern, design museum, Camp Bestival, Hoxton Hall and many more.