West Offices,York The Public Art Programme
Introduction
West Offices - the historic site of York’s first railway station - has been transformed into the new headquarters and customer centre for City of York Council, and we are hugely proud of the public art programme we have put in place as part of that transformation. York is an innovative city with vibrant creative and education sectors, and we wanted to reflect that in our approach. With generous funding from the site developers York Investors LLP, we built in opportunities for professional artists based in York and the Yorkshire region who had not had the opportunity to develop and create artwork for the public realm. Working closely with Yorkshirebased creative company Beam, we commissioned an experienced lead artist, Jo Fairfax, both to produce artworks himself and to support three professional artists who are new to the public realm arena - Susanne Davies, Rachel Welford, and Mat Lazenby. We also wanted to ensure that there was a legacy to this project in at least two ways. Firstly, by linking it to our universities and creative sector to try to ensure that there would be ongoing activity for artists and citizens alike. With this in mind, internationally renowned artist John Newling collaborated with students and graduates - from York St John University and Bar Lane Studios to create an exciting ‘Market of Hidden Labours’, which we hope will inspire an annual event in the beautiful forecourt of West Offices. Secondly, we aim to establish a ‘Rolling Gallery’ in the public areas and the main public meeting rooms of West Offices, which will offer a wide range of community arts practitioners the opportunity to showcase their projects to a wider audience, enabling the Council to use the new offices to encourage and promote the creative endeavours of both students and residents of the city. Thirdly, because the council believes in inclusion, we commissioned York-based company Bright White to produce a physical interpretation station - ‘Platform 2.0’ - that would enable all citizens, of whatever age and ability, to discover and enjoy the artworks and the building in a creative and informative way. Working closely with the council and the design and construction teams, and supported by Beam, all of the artists have developed site-specific work to delight and enhance the experience of council customers, visitors and staff alike. We feel that the resulting artworks echo the history of the building and City of York Council’s contemporary and interactive approach. Enjoy! Councillor Sonja Crisp Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism
Graham Mathers on behalf of City of York Council
Jo Fairfax
Jo Fairfax’s design ethos is to create holistic work where every detail is important. He extracts current technological principles and weaves them into his projects, bringing a sense of the human touch to wonderful technology. Jo has been designing for public and private spaces since 1996.
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His designs cover sculptural lighting, architectural glass, public squares, public art, sculptural seating, digital film, interactive film and lighting for dance. Jo was commissioned to produce two artworks: ‘Just Passing’: A lighting scheme sited on the 12 external columns of www.jofairfax.co.uk
West Offices. The artist has taken his inspiration from history, reflecting the original function of West Offices as York’s first railway station. The ground-sited LED lights are synchronised with train arrivals from and to Edinburgh and London. They light up sequentially across the columns as the train arrives. The
light remains static whilst the train is in the station then, as it departs, the lights slowly illuminate the columns, this time in the opposite direction. ‘Welcome’: An interactive film projection sited internally on the left-hand wall of the West Offices entranceway, showing an old-fashioned Station
Master going about his duties. The film is responsive to people moving through the reception space. In it the Station Master performs a number of actions such as walking across the platform and picking up some litter, waving to the public, reading a paper, and eating a sandwich - and a few
cheeky night-time shots, where he makes a mug of Horlicks whilst wearing his pyjamas and dressing gown! Jo Fairfax also worked closely with the three local artists, supporting them throughout the commissioning process of making major works for the public realm.
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Susanne Davies Susanne Davies is an installation artist based in York. Her work responds to architectural spaces, being both siteresponsive and sitespecific. Time, space and movement are integral to her art, from the many hours demanded by its production to the sense of space she creates. ‘Origins’: For West Offices, Susanne has created a stunning artwork that comprises hundreds of coloured wires installed in one of the atriums that stretches between three floors. The installation of the wires forms a diamond shape across the first floor void and a triangle of wires stretches up to the third floor. In the creation of this artwork, Susanne has developed her practice from working predominantly with embroidery thread in smaller spaces, to using a different medium to respond to the large architectural scale and permanent nature of West Offices. Susanne would like to thank Commercial Systems International and their team.
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www.susannedavies.com
Mat Lazenby
Mat Lazenby is a Yorkbased artist and designer who forms one half of Lazenbybrown, an innovative graphic design business. Mat’s primary area of practice is digital and graphic design and he has been fortunate enough to apply these skills to many areas including public art and performance, digital and generative art, as well as digital storytelling in immersive 360° environments.
bygone era. Mat chose to use text extracted from W.H. Auden’s poem ‘As I Walked Out One Evening’. Auden was born in York in 1907, and is one of the UK’s most widelyrespected 20th century poets. Mat designed an artwork integrating this text into a concentric paving feature in the West Offices courtyard. The work is made from steel and bound gravel and is sited in the centre of a seating area.
‘Auden’s Wheel’: Mat was inspired by the rich heritage of the site and wanted to tell a visual and textual story capturing the romance, elegance, tradition and solidity of a
Mat would like to thank; Hugh Bernays from City of York Auden Society; James Clarke his Metalworker; Jo Fairfax for his support; Curtis Brown, New York; and Richard Reiner. www.lazenbybrown.com
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Rachel Welford
Rachel Welford is an artist specialising in architectural glass and is based in Scarborough. Originally trained in fine art, she went on to gain an MA Glass (distinction) from the University of Sunderland in 2009. Rachel was commissioned to create two artworks for West Offices. ‘York Buildings’: A large glass screen is located on the right-hand side of the customer centre and
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imagery based on historical maps of York and diagrams of the city walls, streets, rivers and gateways. Each disc is titled individually; ‘Rowntree’, ‘York Railway’, ‘Historical York’, ‘Rivers and Links’, ‘Walls and ‘Doorways’: Glass Gateways’ and ‘Streets and Spaces’. Manifestation Discs: A series of delicate circular glass discs are sited on Rachel would like to thank David Proto and the team six glass doors within the Booking Hall. These elegant at Proto Studios, and the discs are made from University of Sunderland transparent and frosted Glass and Ceramics Department. glass and mirror with features layers of reflective silver and frosted glass. The imagery represents the shapes of York’s buildings hand-traced from both historical and contemporary street maps of York.
www.rachelwelford.co.uk
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Bright White Bright White Ltd was formed in 2004 to satisfy the emerging requirement for a new form of adventurous, innovative design consultancy based in York. Bright White was commissioned to create a physical ‘interpretation’ station to assist the public with the interpretation of the artworks and other relevant information. Their installation, ‘Platform 2.0’, is located in the Customer Centre. ‘Platform 2.0’: The title refers to the building’s history as a railway station. The installation interprets the artworks in a way accessible to everyone, including blind or visually impaired visitors who may not be able to enjoy the exclusively visual aspect of the artworks. A button for each artwork triggers a soundtrack of each artist talking about their work, as well as to a creative sound-based interpretation of the work created especially by Bright White. The installation also includes information on the building’s history and refurbishment, and on upcoming cultural events in York.
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www.brightwhiteltd.co.uk
John Newling
John Newling is an internationally-known pioneer of public art with a social purpose. His works explore the natural world and the social and economic systems of society – such as money, faith, and wellbeing. In parallel with the West Offices permanent artwork programme, John has been working on the programme’s ‘legacy’, exploring foundations for ongoing arts activity at the site by artists and other creatives studying or based in York.
and by his research with council officers into the buildings they worked in before the move to West Offices. It included the participation of artists from York St John University, whose work is also in a sense largely ‘hidden’ from wider public view and artists from Bar Lane Studios. John held a series of workshops facilitating the creation of works that engage with the public and encourage an ‘exchange’ that is market-like but non-monetary.
‘Market of Hidden Labours’ was installed over two days in early May 2013 in the forecourt of West Offices. It was partly informed by John’s long-term interest in where, as a society, we place our values
John also gave a talk, ‘Common Values’, for council employees and the public in the West Offices, coinciding with the ‘Market of Hidden Labours’.
www.john-newling.com
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Acknowledgements
Many people made this project possible. Special thanks go to all the artists, and also to:
S Harrison Developments Ltd Nigel Firn, Gavin Jones
City of York Council Councillor Sonja Crisp, Gill Cooper, Ian Asher, Sandra Herbert, Jonathan Kenyon, Peter Appleby, Alan Thomas, Janine Riley, Helen Ridge, Megan Rule Miller Construction Stephen McFadden, Steve MacManaman, Gavin Douglas
Beam Creative Director, Robert Powell Project Management: Jill Kelly, Kate Watson York St John University Roddy Hunter Design, Construction, Production Mat Parkins (CSP Architects); Helen Nicol (So Vibrant); Richard Reiner; Ben Pugh; Judit Bodor; Penny Whitworth (‘Market of Hidden Labours’); Bar Lane Studios and Ben Clowes Graphic Design: www.therabbitpatch.co.uk Photography: Kippa Matthews