Toilet humour

here are toilets, and then there are toilets. At the redeveloped Studio Voltaire site falls into the latter category. This permanent installation, created by artist duo Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan, runs across three toilets, and gives a conventionally utilitarian space an unexpected twist through playful figurative motifs in hand-glazed ceramic tiles. ‘It started as a joke,’ says Tatham. ‘Then, a week later, Joe [Scotland, director of Studio Voltaire] emailed to say that perhaps this was something we could make happen.’ The not-for-profit arts organisation, which reopens on 15 October with a solo show by William Scott, will also unveil a new public garden designed by Anthea Hamilton.