Once again, Ron Arad has proved that he has more than one feather to his (always asymmetrical) hat. The famous artist, architect, and extraordinaire has conceived an installation consisting of a circular curtain hanging in the main space of the Roundhouse, a former steam engine repair shed turned multidisciplinary venue in North London. From today, Arad's "Curtain Call" — made of 5,600 silicon rods hanging from an 18 meter diameter ring — will be used as a screen for projections, featuring the films of Arad's guests: Mat Collishaw, Christian Marclay, Javier Mariscal, and David Shrigley, among others. Live events are also on the menu: concerts, live soundtracks and performances.

So, has Arad turned exhibition organizer? Not quite. Recently, he talked to ARTINFO UK about his links to the area, how the project came together, and his dislike of "the curatorial."

You've been based in Chalk Farm [an area of North London] for about 20 years. How do you relate to this area and to the Roundhouse?

I was lucky to catch the last days of the Roundhouse's glorious first period. I came to London in 1973, and there were still queues around the building for rock concerts. They even tried a vegetarian restaurant here once. It was a new thing! Healthy food! Then the Roundhouse closed for years. I moved to Chalk Farm when all the creative people had to give up Covent Garden to make room for businesses. One day on my way home, I saw an old piano workshop with a little sign saying "To Let." I stopped the car, and it became my studio. I'm very happy to have a studio on Chalk Farm Road.

A few years ago, I was shortlisted to do a sculpture for the Roundhouse. I did a fantastic piece, but I lost to Anthony Gormley. That's how I met Marcus Davey, the Roundhouse's artistic director. He's delightful and we became friendly neighbors. It took me a while to stop giving him a hard time for having made the wrong choice about that sculpture! I pitched the idea of what I could do for him within 60 seconds of being asked. It was one of those wisecracking things — if it works, fine, and if it doesn't you can always say you were only joking. Now, the proof is here that I was serious... and joking!

The silicon rods make the whole installation incredibly tactile. How did you come across this material? Have you worked with it in the past?

When you work, you do your research. Sometimes you find a material and makes you think: 'what can I do with this?,' and sometimes it's the other way around. You have a fantastic idea and you think: 'what material will give me the best results?' In this project, it was the second scenario. The material needed to do so many things: it needed to be vandal-proof — it's so supple that you have no incentive to climb on it to do a Tarzan. We also had to control the translucency. At some point, we thought that if we used tubes instead of solid rods, we might save half the weight and half the cost. I did a mock-up in the studio — half-tubes, half-rods — hoping that the rods would give a better image, so we would have a reason to go for the more expensive one. In the end, the image looked equally good on tubes, but the tactility that the rods gives you is different. It's a subtle thing.

You've invited many artists to intervene on "Curtain Call." Is collaboration important to your work?

First, it's important to say that it's not exactly a collaboration. It's an invitation. It started with me imagining what each one of the people on my wish list would do, and then being totally wrong. They all did much better stuff. It's nice to see different people use "Curtain Call" in their own completely different ways. It's such a relief to see David Shrigley's piece after Mat's dark film.

People refer to what I did as "curating." I don't curate. And I don't like curatorial control. I felt guilty even changing the order of the films in the video loop. I didn't want Javier Mariscal to be next to David Shrigley, and I wanted something bright and light after Mat's dark, sordid piece. So now I'm in the danger of getting near the curatorial!

To see a film clip of Ron Arad talking about "Curtain Call," click the video below: