POP
UP
Installation
“The pieces produced by the teams of 6, may be linked; developing ideas around navigation, mapping and signage, or may individually temporarily alter the function of the space. It may provoke a reaction or change of mood, but will be based on inspirations gained by visiting
The materials used in the piece will be wholely sustainable, using recycled goods, or give consideration to the protection of natural resources by reducing consumption of energy and materials. The installation should be temporary and could be moved and exhibited elsewhere as necessary.
an environment or experience outside college, and will aim to recreate something of this external starting point. This assignment was to challenge us to work in groups of mixed skills - made up from students on BA Surface Design and BA Graphic Product Innovation. Our aim was to produce environmental design as a ‘pop up in installation’ in a selected area of ‘dead space’ around the college building.
Our starting point for this project was to visit
Columbia Road Flower Market.
ciara ALEX
su e
ji
s loui
ROSA
t e m e a e mthe T
LOCATIONs
Choosing our space was the most time-consuming task, not due to lack of choice - on the contrary, there are a multitude of ‘dead spaces’ in the LCC building - but mostly because we couldn’t decide on the concept of our installation.
A few of the un-used spaces we stumbled upon are the following: - The vast open air terasses accessible from the 4th floor of the media block. There are about 4 or 5 of these large terasses with beautiful views of London which are never used (and probably unheard of for most students) because of health and safety reasons. - The slim space in between the workshop block staircase - The strange ‘entrance’ to the main lecture theatre. - The white bridge leading from thr library to the quiet zone.
To start with, we desperately wanted the Atrium because of it’s impressive size and the extra impact it would give to our work. We wanted to hang objects from the ceiling to create a hovering layer of sustainability. Unfortunately we had to change our mind when we realised there was no hanging infrastructure available, not to mention the hugeness of the atrium would be impossible to fill.
Our second idea was to keep the concept of hanging but apply it to a much smaller space. We found a great spot in the main hall - a fenced off ‘balcony’ leading to the floor below, flooded with light from the big glazed windows. However, due to the ongoing exhibitions on the bottom floor, we were not allowed to take up that space. What’s more, there was a lack of hanging infrastructure.
It became clear to us that ‘hanging’ objects was going to be very difficult. What’s more, our favorite found objects were the big empty oil drums. They didn’t specifically need to be hung - their shape allowed them to be stacked, rolled, squashed, alligned...
In the end, the space we chose is very different to anything we had seen before. And not only is it an unusual ‘dead’ space, it’s actually a series of spaces. On the ground, second and third floors of the workshop block there are a few small square alcoves built into the walls along the corridor. They measure about 1m wide and 1.50 m tall and have a depth of around 30cm. They are completely empty, except for a small tap issuing from the bottom side. Originally one of these alcoves was used to store a fireman’s hose in case of an emergency in the college. But now with modern fire extinguishers, they were disposed of, and their quarters left untouched. We decide on these spaces firslty because they framed our oil drums perfeclty: we could snuggly fit in 3 rows of drums arranged in 3 collumns. Secondly, we really liked the fact that there was more than one - which meant that we could play around with the idea of a reoccuring installation.
r ou
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sustainable things We found one of these empty cooking oil barrels randomly in east London, not far from Columbia Road Market. Made to be used once then thrown into landfil, we thought it possessed an interesting aesthetic quality retro typography, block colours, mass production - and decided to make it the main feature of our installation. Thus the hunt began. We wend around Whitechapel, Hackney, Elephant & Castle, New Cross, all these areas well known for their abundance of greasy spoons ang fried chicken joints. Prior to this project, none of us had ever noticed these oil drums before. Now they were everywhere, outside shops, in bin bags, dumped on the streets, behind kebab counters. It was an easier job than expected and in no time at all we had gathered a good quantity:
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NEW CONCEPT
Initially we thought of keeping the found oild drums exactly as they were because their look was already very pleasing. But we soon realised there would be no sustainable message behind our installation if we did this. Visually, the 3 x 3 block of drums was quite impressive but depth lacked.
tb he ig id
Eureka! The group came up with the bright idea of covering some of the drums printed surface with our own prints. Similar, but with an entirely different message.
ea
We replaced half of the ‘vegetable oil’ labels ‘low on cholesterol’, and ‘longer life’ slogans into similar looking labels, which when passing by swiftly are undetectable, but looking closer are quite startling.
OLD CONCEPT
WASTE
SO DISPOSABLE USE ME & DUMP ME
ALMOST EXTINCT LIFESPAN: 1 DAY! USE AND ABUSE
n n e i e r r cs p
g it n
It was really good for Alex and me to work with surface design because it enabled us to learn so much from them and vice versa. I have always wanted to learn how to screen print, but the studio downstairs is always packed ad the technicians not very helpful. So this project was the perfect opportunity! Rosa, Ciara, Su and Ji are all masters of the trade and taught us eveything. we needed to know. Alex and I designed the images on photoshop, then photocopied them in order for the prints to be as black as possible.
Next step was to coat the screen with emulsifyer - this is a light sensitive liquid. After a few hours of letting the screen dry, in warm air we placed the black and white image on the screen and put the whole into the --- machine, which blocks out the white areas and leaves the screen untouched where the image is black. Our image is projected onto the silk screen which is now ready to be used with paint.
lPrino inting Because of the ‘pop up’ nature of the installation, we couldn’t print direclty onto the floor boards, so we thought lino was the perfect solution. I went to West Wikham to collect samples of lino from a friend’s shop. These are sustainable because as they are samples we got them for free! Our plan was to cut out puddle shapes in the lino and to print patterns from our sketchbooks onto them. These would represent our inspiration from Columbia Road Flower Market but also symbolise the leaking oil from the oil drums.
Looking at sustainable ways of creating design, these oil drums were put together as an example of the chronic waste currently flooding our landfills. Surface Design second years and Graphic Product Innovation students collaboratively chose and acknowledged the items as still valuable in terms of aesthetics. The ironic brand ‘Consumer’s Pride’ prompted our screen printed relabelling of the drums, and inspired our oil spills which signify excess waste that is avoidable through recycled and sustainable design works.
GROUND FLOOR
SECOND FLOOR
THIRD FLOOR
THIRD FLOOR
the end
In conclusion, this project was extremely dyniamic and fulfilling. The success of our work can mainly be attributed to the solid group we formed and active participation from each of the group members. We shared and criticised ideas in a constructive manner only to emerge with even better ones. What’s more it was super inspiring to work with students form a different degree. It really shook things up a bit and allowed us to watch and learn, and in return teach them the best of our skills. I especially enjoyed working in the screen-printing room, there’s so much buzzing creativity going on
in there! Now that I’ve been properly introduced to screen-printing, I’m sure I’ll be spending much more time up there. Concerning sustainability, I’m very glad that we had this long project to reflect on this very important issue which affects every stage of the design process. Equally, lectures from professionals such as Thomas Matthews (who place sustainability at the centre of their work) was incredibly inspiring. All of this had deffinitely opened my eyes to this crucial topic and I hope it has done so to everyone else who worked with us and saw our installations.
The presentation of our pop-up installations in their LCC location was very successful. As a result, we were asked to transfer them into the container outside which served as a little gallery for the Museum Futures exhibition.