Es Devlin, the designer of Lorde’s 2017 Coachella set, and Trask House owner John McGuire, whose company made the Camp Flog Gnaw piece for Kanye West and Kid Cudi, have both addressed Lorde’s accusations regarding the Kids See Ghosts duo stealing her stage design.
Devlin confirmed she had nothing to do with the Kids See Ghosts design despite her previous work with Yeezy. She also stated her belief that there was “no imitation at work here” in response to Lorde’s claims.
“The idea of a floating glass box of course is not in any way new and the geometry precedes all of us,” Devlin wrote on Instagram. “The form finds another layer of resonance in each new context. I did not design the recent Kids See Ghosts performance: I worked with Lorde on the design for her Coachella performance.”
She continued, “I admire both and see no imitation at work here: I think the more interesting point is that both artists, responding to our dis-jointed times, are being drawn to this gesture of the fragile floating room: the world un-moored from gravity : where the rules of civilisation and identity as we have known them may soon no longer apply.”
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Trask House’s McGuire responded to Lorde’s accusations in a statement to the New York Times.
“[Lorde] wasn’t the first person to use a floating glass box, she won’t be the last,” he said. “She doesn’t own it, her designer didn’t invent it. Cubes and floating aren’t new to Kanye West, stage design or architecture. A quick Google of floating glass box brings up many instances of suspended glass cubes.”
[This post has been updated. The following was originally published on November 12, 2018.]
Kanye West and Kid Cudi’s stage design at the 2018 Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival is facing scrutiny from Lorde. The platinum-selling singer has accused Yeezy and Cudi of ripping off her work, highlighting the similarities between the design used by the duo on Sunday (November 11) and her past sets.
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Lorde made the accusation in a series of posts on Instagram Stories. She shared photos of Kanye and Cudi’s Camp Flog Gnaw stage alongside images from a March 2018 tour date and her performance at the 2017 Coachella Festival.
“I’m proud of the work I do and it’s flattering when other artists feel inspired by it, to the extent that they choose to try it on themselves,” she wrote. “But don’t steal — not from women or anyone else — not in 2018 or ever.”
Lorde’s stage was designed by Es Devlin, who also works with Kanye. Devlin was behind the aforementioned Coachella set, but the designer has been collaborating with Yeezy for years prior to her work with Lorde.
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Devlin’s site showcases some of her past creations for Kanye, which include stage designs that date back to his Glow In The Dark Tour from 2008.
View the design in question below.
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