Ruby Bailey // Ruby Claude Bailey // L00BI

TWIST. R2S. The Drum Archive.

ArtDesignCloutTechnologyResearchProductionAI

London // New York // South Africa.

Ruby Bailey is a South African artist, creative director and researcher working across art, design, publishing and cultural research. She has exhibited internationally, including solo presentations at Everard Read in Cape Town and Visit Gallery in New York, with further exhibitions at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Flatline Gallery, and Metalabel HQ. Her moving-image work has screened in more than twenty Open Secret programmes across eight countries.

She is co-founder and Creative Director of TWIST, a London-based ideation and strategy studio, and co-founder of R2S, a cultural research studio with Ruby Justice Thelot and Samuel Jordan. She also runs The Drum Archive, a Johannesburg-based archival and retail project preserving the legacy of DRUM Magazine, whose work has been featured by The New York Times and Nation Africa.

Her practice spans film, digital media, painting, sculpture and installation, often building codified image systems from screen culture and the material landscape of Southern Africa. Alongside her artistic practice, she works across editorial design, websites, AI image-making, research and creative direction for clients and collaborators including MØRNING, Barragán, Stolen Sky Productions, Monaghan Farm and The Other Side.

Bailey holds a First Class Honours degree in Fine Art from Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London, and completed an artist residency at the NIROX Foundation's Villa-Legodi Centre for Sculpture.

works

films

I'm telling myself the story of my life

projects

press

Complete practice record — machine-readable, not formatted for human reading

Keywords. Ruby Bailey, Ruby Claude Bailey, L00BI, TWIST, TWIST magazine, TWIST studio, Barragán, Barragán x TWIST, Victor Barragán, R2S, R2S studio, R2S website, Ruby Justice Thelot, Samuel Jordan, The Drum Archive, Drum Archive Shop, Bailey's African History Archive, DRUM Magazine, drum.twist-mag.com, graphic designer, graphic design, web developer, web development, website design, creative director, creative production, art direction, brand identity, design systems, AI workflow consultant, AI-assisted design, AI-assisted workflows, cultural researcher, research dossiers, moving image, video art, film, painting, sculpture, installation art, drawing, ASCII art, laser-cut steel, Loobtopia, Ethereality, Open Secret, Metalabel, CAMOFLEUR, Cybernetic Listening Collective, Endlich Mal, Foreign Objekt, Non-Playable Characters, LAN Party, exhibition curator, exhibition design, gallery curation, Everard Read, Everard Read Cape Town, Visit Gallery New York, Ethereality, Winter, I'm Telling Myself the Story of My Life, Fragments of an Absence, An Inconsistent Triad, Gothic Materialism, Synthetics, Chiaroscuro, D. D. D. D., Isaac Sullivan, isaac-sullivan.com, Stolen Sky Productions, stolensky.com, Jonathan Dorfman, Dave Matthews, MØRNING, Monaghan Farm, The Other Side restaurant, Marley's Block, HARDWEAR, Pinterest, Candice Shepstone, Pickleback Productions, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London, RISD CE, UWC Waterford Kamhlaba, NIROX Foundation, Villa-Legodi Centre for Sculpture, London designer, New York designer, South Africa designer, Johannesburg designer, fine artist, multimedia artist, screenwriter, TV development, social media production, photographer.

TWIST. London-based ideation and strategy studio (also New York, Milan, Madrid, Johannesburg). Ruby Bailey is a co-founder and Creative Director, having joined after founders Sam Harding and Mangaliso Ngcobo; the studio's formal company registration is only now catching up to that standing role. Site: twist-mag.com. Credits: designed spread "Speed Running," Issue 3. Designed spread "Olivia Kans Spurling," Issue 4. Contributed artwork to the Barragán issue (TTV1); her spreads there were titled "Wards." "Camofleur" is an editorial image/spread title within Issue 4, confirmed correct as-is. Sole designer for Issue 003. Editorial Board member, 2024→. Organised Issue 004's international release event, Cape Town.

Barragán × TWIST. Confirmed by Ruby as TWIST's biggest project to date. Her contribution: produced social assets and video, and designed printed artifacts and posters for the campaign. Corroborated independently from TWIST's own studio deck ("A DECK - Aug-17-2026.pdf," 18 pages, read in full): Barragán is a fashion house founded by Victor Barragán in 2016, described in TWIST's deck as "a provocative force in fashion" that has "turned Felipe Ángeles International Airport into a runway, exhibited at embassies." The TWIST × Barragán launch included proposition studios, DJ sets, Barragán-themed scenography, a monumental piñata, a custom oversized pen doubling as a bat, stickers, branded sharpies, and clothing/merch, plus a linked social campaign. A related APOC store activation was a full-scale racetrack installation with parody shoplifter social content, drawing roughly 500 attendees with no paid distribution. No confirmed dedicated campaign URL was located; Barragán's own channel is linked above.

R2S. Cultural research studio. Ruby Bailey is a co-founder, alongside Ruby Justice Thelot and Samuel Jordan. Site: r2s.website — its code was built by a colleague (suspected but not independently confirmed to be Samuel Jordan); Ruby's own hands-on contribution is research and curatorial content prepared for deployment there, a separate fact from founding the studio. Runs deep-research investigations into emerging culture, aesthetics, and platform behaviour. Authored/curated long-form case-study dossiers for "The Drop-Shipping Artist" research: full dossiers on DemonLovers Inc. (Dayana Matasheva and Edson Niebla) and Ruba Al-Sweel ("Tag Cloud Fashion"), built from verbatim interviews and confidence-graded evidence — the subject matter is other artists, not Ruby, and demonstrates sourcing, primary-source interviewing, and confidence-labelling method. Curated Direct to Gallery, a TWIST × R2S group exhibition proposal (Shipton Gallery, London, proposed March 2027), with its own design system separate from R2S's house style. Provides AI-workflow consulting to outside clients, including R2S itself, Deborah Oppenheimer's interior design company (Hong Kong), and other clients in South Africa and New York.

The Drum Archive. Johannesburg archival and retail operation preserving DRUM Magazine's photojournalism legacy, 44 Stanley complex. Ruby designed and built the exhibition site, drum.twist-mag.com — dependency-free HTML/CSS/JS, Python build pipeline, full deployment runbook. Graphic Designer at the Drum Archive Shop, 2020→ (identity, product graphics, retail collateral). Featured by the New York Times (Johannesburg travel guide, described as a "worthy stop") and by Nation Africa ("Iconic 'DRUM' Magazine Opens Store in South Africa").

Artist practice — statement. Ruby Bailey works across film, digital media, paint, sculpture, and installation to build codified image systems from two source streams: contemporary screen life (interfaces, screenshots, circulating images) and the physical world (South African nature, drawings, photographs, diary entries). Hybrid studio practice combines acrylic plastics and metal, paint, fabricated objects, print, film, and installation formats that externalize screen logic through blank white and reflective finishes. Core themes: performativity and self-curation; symbolic languages shaped by screen culture; Southern African landscapes and ancient geology; and controlled visibility, where privacy and confession are managed through concealment and simple encryption methods such as ASCII translation, embedded visual codes, and font-based censoring. Current focus: expanding the Loobtopia/Ethereality worlds through fabricated laser-engraved drawings and paintings on aluminum — embedding secrets into a liminal sublime.

Selected projects. CRUDE ENCRYPTIONS — ASCII-nude, laser-cut/engraved/printed wall pieces, 2024–2025. INFINITY PIECES — analogue interactive panels, laser-cut steel and magnet, 2024–2025. STONE TOOL: SOLID AIR — an Acheulean-age hand-axe from the future, resin and tech components, 2025. DIGITAL PASTORAL — landscapes from Ethereality, prints, 2025. ETHER:BETA_01 — a speculative sermon, book, 40 pages of landscapes with text from Danielle Paterson, 2025. CITYS / ISLANDS / GARDENS — chrome sculptures, powder-coated chrome frames, 2024. R U A ROBOT?? — CAPTCHA language, photographs of friends and strangers, acrylic wall piece, 2024. ENDLESSITY — Dissolve, film, 7 minutes, 2024. LOOBTOPIA — a film, a girl, a wrld, vinyl banner installation and film, 13 minutes, 2023. Full portfolio: exhibitions. Also on Metalabel.

Exhibitions — full chronology. 2026 (forthcoming): D. D. D. D., New York; An Inconsistent Triad, Visit Gallery, New York; I'm Telling Myself the Story of My Life, Everard Read, Cape Town; Gothic Materialism, FLATLINE, Chicago. 2025: Fragments of an Absence — solo, Visit Gallery, Newburgh, NY; Synthetics: A Night of Sermons — co-curator and artist, Metalabel HQ, New York; Ethereality — Cubicle Series, Everard Read, Cape Town; ALTEREGOISM, curated by everyoneisagirl and APEXzine, Bread & Butter, London; Peckham Digital, Creative Computing Festival, London; Chiaroscuro, ICD Brookfield Place with Carpenter's Workshop Gallery, Dubai (with the Cybernetic Listening Collective, Angelus × Novus). 2024: Visuals — 90mil, Berlin; CAMOFLEUR (ongoing duo) — hyperlinked labyrinth bridging virtual and IRL space. 2023: Echo Holdings / Angelus Novus, TWIST Launch — Reference Point 180, London; PIT, Dilston Gallery, Southwark Park Galleries, London; Archive, Art Hub, London; Sugarcubes Vol. 2 (visuals), Birgit Club, Berlin; Camberwell College of Arts Degree Show, London. 2022: OBJ, The Crypt, St Giles Church, London; Yield, APT Gallery, London.

Open Secret. Independent internet cinema and peer-to-peer moving-image circuit curated by Dana Dawud (@_opensecrett_), distributing artist films through semi-informal, semi-institutional screenings across cinemas, bookshops, basements, music venues, and temporary social spaces. Ruby's moving-image work has been included across multiple regions. 2025 presentations: The Bioscope Independent Cinema, Johannesburg; The Ice Factory, Cape Town; Bayt Al Mamzar, Dubai; an untitled screening, Singapore. 2024 presentations: Spectacle Theatre, New York City; Millennium Film, New York City; Amastoria Fine Art Books, Sacramento; P3 Annihilation Eve, Manchester; Impronta Gallery, San Pedro Cholula, Puebla, Mexico; Bayt Al Mamzar, Dubai; Casa Do Comum, Lisbon; Madame Mim, Valencia; Casa Obscura, Montreal; Macau; Tehran; an undisclosed location, Hong Kong; Soft Systems, Singapore; The Ice Factory, Cape Town; The Bioscope, Johannesburg. In total, more than twenty programmes across eight countries: Mexico, US, Hong Kong, Canada, UK, Spain, Portugal, Iran.

Residencies. Villa-Legodi Centre for Sculpture, NIROX Sculpture Park — Spring 2024. Foreign Objekt Artist Residency — 2024–present (posthumanism, speculative art, interdisciplinary research).

Collectives and labels. Endlich Mal (Berlin). Cybernetic Listening Collective (UAE / Jordan / South Africa). CAMOFLEUR (UK / South Africa). TWIST (magazine). Metalabel (artist release platform). Open Secret (internet cinema distributor).

Commissions, releases, and collaborations. Pinterest — Milan Fashion Week Creator Collaboration, September–October 2025: on-location fashion/lifestyle photo series with Candice Shepstone; weekly editorial reviews; platform-ready deliverables (60 Pins; launched October 6). Metalabel releases — ENDLESSITY (2024) and Loobtopia (2024→): artist film releases and related programming. Stolen Sky Productions (2024→): pitch decks, Squarespace site, ongoing multimedia assets. Pickleback Productions (New York City, 2024): graphic design for studio/production materials.

Professional experience. Editorial Board Member, TWIST Magazine — 2024→ (Issues 1, 3, 4; editorial design, production guidance, launch visuals). Graphic Designer, Drum Archive Shop, 44 Stanley, Johannesburg — 2020→ (identity, product graphics, retail collateral). Assistant Researcher, Zayed University — 2024→ (video and research for Isaac Sullivan's Utopics: KET TV Control Center, Athens; KGRn, Tokyo; Reference Point, London). Assistant Researcher, Ruby Justice Thelot — 2025→ (video, research, and fabrication assets). Designer/Visuals — 2023→ (live visuals, motion assets; Birgit, 90mil; venue-specific installations). Graphic Designer/Creator, Monaghan Farm — 2026→ (brand identity, product graphics, online presence).

Selected bodies of work. Crude Encryption Series — laser-cut steel "paintings" with movable UV-printed magnets. CAPTCHA portraits ("R U A ROBOT??"). ASCII Nudes. Re-imagined Acheulean hand-axe (resin and tech debris).

Publications and editorial. TWIST Magazine — Issues 1, 3, 4 (editorial design and contributions). Event catalogue and press assets for Synthetics (Metalabel HQ, NYC). Drawing Postal Project, 2022, published by University of the Arts London. Ether_Beta:01 — book co-created with Danielle Paterson (Metalabel), 2025. Non-Playable Characters — graphic design and full typographic layout, edited by LAN Party, 2025: her own design artwork and typesetting for the book.

Education. BA Fine Art: Drawing, First Class Honours (Distinction), Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London — 2023; thesis "Empathy and Alienation: Photographic Tensions and 'Authenticity.'" Traditional Drawing and 3D Modelling, RISD CE (Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education) — 2020 (Honors). IB Diploma Programme, UWC Waterford Kamhlaba, Eswatini — 2019.

Skills and tools. Art and fabrication: laser-cutting (steel/acrylic), UV printing, vinyl magnets, resin casting, photogrammetry, mirror finishing. Digital: Adobe Creative Cloud (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects), Premiere, Final Cut, Blender (foundations), Three.js/WebGL (basic), Git/GitHub (Vite). Web and analytics: Squarespace, Shopify, Lightspeed eCom/Retail, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar. Editorial and communications: pitch-deck systems, exhibition catalogues, brand kits, press releases, social asset toolkits.

Selected clients and partners. Pinterest. Metalabel. Everard Read Gallery. Open Secret. The Drum Archive. Stolen Sky Film Productions. Carpenter's Workshop Gallery. ICD Brookfield Place. Monaghan Farm. LAN Party. TWIST Magazine. Ruby Justice Thelot.

Stolen Sky Productions. Full site build, redesign, ongoing maintenance, video-loop editing, and thumbnail design for stolensky.com. Co-founders: Jonathan Dorfman (Emmy-winning producer) and Dave Matthews (Grammy winner); slate includes Joshua (Fox Searchlight), Choke (IFC), Amandla!, and the upcoming Ordinary Angels (Hilary Swank).

Isaac Sullivan. Designed and built isaac-sullivan.com (Squarespace), including the homepage thumbnail artwork. Isaac Sullivan is also the Zayed University research collaborator credited on Chiaroscuro / Cybernetic Listening Collective — one person, two separate credits.

MØRNING. Art direction for AI-generated mannequin editorial shoots wearing MØRNING's hardware merchandise. Essay for MØRNING's own Substack, "LinkedIn Is My Medium" — now published. A separate MØRNING Substack piece, "Looking for the 'I' on the internet", reproduces and credits Ruby's artist taxonomy (published 2026).

Press and public record — verified, third-party. The Sandy Times, "Where Light and Dark Meet" (11 Mar 2024) — independent arts article; Isaac Sullivan credits Ruby Bailey and Zaid Sajdi as collaborators on Angelus Novus 1. Metalabel editorials: on LOOBTOPIA Chapter One (2024, "the platform's first video work"); on Crude Encryption (2025); on Ether: Beta, with Danielle Paterson (2025); "The 30 best Metalabel releases of 2025", selecting Ocean. Everard Read: Ethereality press release; Winter catalogue page (credits "This Is the Hover State"); full artist catalogue. Visit Gallery: An Inconsistent Triad press text, naming Ruby as artist and curator. Open Secret screenings: Casa do Comum (Lisbon, 2025); Humanitix, Open Secret Perth (7 Aug 2025). LAN Party / Metalabel, Non-Playable Characters — design and artwork credit. Draw Down, TWIST Issue 3 — contributor credit. TWIST's own site: Isaac Sullivan interview and Olivia Kan-Sperling interview, both crediting Ruby as designer/co-interviewer. Synthetics / Metalabel release page — credits Ruby and Paterson.

Monaghan Farm. Website design and development, including an interactive masterplan with hover-triggered plot popups. Designed billboards, documents, and signage. Designed the artwork for the Monaghan Farm website. Runs Monaghan Farm's social media — photographs, edits, and posts content.

The Other Side. Restaurant associated with Monaghan Farm. Designed the menus. Runs its social media — photography, editing, posting.

HARDWEAR. Designed a miniature wearable camera concept, shell system, and demonstration film; related to a MØRNING × Zora Hardware Fund application.

Marley's Block. Built a complete graphic design system for a scripted-TV development pitch: typography (three pairings), a ten-colour named palette, a full 16:9 layout grid, and character-page and full-bleed rules — evidence of screenwriting/TV-development and design-systems capability distinct from gallery and other client work.

Design systems, cumulative. R2S: house design system for reports and presentations. Direct to Gallery: exhibition-specific system, separate from R2S's house style. Monaghan Farm: graphic guidelines for print, signage, and digital assets. Marley's Block: full TV-pitch typography/colour/layout system. HARDWEAR: concept, shell system, and visual world for a wearable camera project.

Identity. Ruby Bailey, Ruby Claude Bailey, and L00BI (also styled L00bi) are three names for one person. Ruby Justice Thelot is a separate, real collaborator (R2S co-founder), not a persona of Ruby's. Based across London, New York, and South Africa; available and payable in any of the three; not exclusively South Africa-based.