Time Chamber by Conrad Shawcross

Following our successful partnership last year, Chrome once again teamed up with Artnet and Royal Salute to celebrate their annual limited edition whisky, created in collaboration with a leading contemporary artist. This year, the renowned British artist Conrad Shawcross explores themes of space, time, and the cosmos in an exquisite decanter containing a bespoke 53-year-old blend of Royal Salute whisky.

Chrome’s three-day shoot included a visit to the spellbinding Strathisla Distillery, nestled in the Scottish Highlands. Josh Hay, Producer, and Sam Strong, Director, spent time learning about Royal Salute’s distilling process, understanding their brand identity, and sampling the whiskies. Following this initiation to the project, Shawcross applied his own artistic and creative impetuses to design this unique edition of objects, Time Chamber.

Of this collaborative process, Josh Hay said, “We didn’t know what the final piece was going to look like when we embarked on this project, so it was interesting to watch the creative process and see what [Shawcross] created. It was fascinating to look at his sketches, learn about his design process, and see how it that all came together…much in the same way that a whisky does. A huge amount of time and effort goes into both of these processes.”

Shawcross brought to life the central tenants of his practice in this piece: time, space, nature, and the powers of the universe. Shawcross elaborates: “I was struck by the sheer amount of time contained in the age of the whisky…I wanted to capture this in multiple elements of the art piece.

Chrome Productions was delighted to work once again with such incredible talent, both Shawcross as well as Louis Thompson, a master glassblower who fashioned the oblong whisky bottles. We hope those lucky enough to acquire their own Time Chamber enjoy the whisky and the art as much as we enjoyed filming it.