Barbican Research Ba
barbican
GROUP D – Ruairi Walsh OVERLOAD Barbican Event
Barbican Research Ba
Group Project Tasks – Print Materials Print Material produced by the Barbican – posters, catalogues, pamphlets Our group divided the 10 deliverables for the Group Research project between us. We each took one or two items from the list to research ourselves and then collated our findings together on the Miro board. If we found any crossover in our research to an area that another team member was looking at, we would share this information with them and the group. For my part in the group research I looked at the print materials produced by the Barbican to promote the various events they hold. This encompassed large format posters, hardcover catalogues, cheaper pamphlets and tickets for events and exhibitions. During my research I noticed that there was a certain system or identity to much of the work (especially posters) and this led me to reading about the Barbican’s in–house design team who create a lot of the print material for the more frequently held events (such as concerts, theatre, community events).
Barbican Identity Design + Evolution After completing my research on printed materials produced by the Barbican I noticed that the identity of the Barbican seemed to change significantly between posters and wanted to learn more about the history of the Barbican’s identity. The first Barbican identity/logo mark was created by designer Ken Briggs in 1982 and lasted until 2000 when the circular motif that bleeds off the page was introduced by Citigate Lloyd Northover. In 2003, design agency North Studio overhauled the Barbican’s identity, introducing Futura as a unifying typeface for the centre’s various venues and brands. Futura was chosen due to the circular letter forms in letters like “a”, “b” and “c” as they complemented the existing roundel motif and served as a contrast to the Barbican’s architecture. The decision was made in 2012 to enlarge the Barbican’s wordmark, and abandon the roundel motif. The wordmark is now in a prominent vertical orientation and is used in a more playful manner and is now used to communicate other imagery or information. North Studio felt that this distunguished the Barbican’s marketing material from what was now a much more competitive marketing landscape.
Barbican posters highlighting the changes in visual language and identity, North Studio, 2005–2013
The Curve Gallery
Following this I researched the Barbican Curve Gallery. The Barbican Curve gallery is a dark, curved gallery space that wraps around the Barbican Centre’s Concert Hall. Since 2006, artists have been invited to design works that respond to its challenging space, some so popular that they have inspired people to queue for hours just to get a glimpse, such as the “Rain Room” exhibition created by Random International in 2012, which saw hours long queues of people wanting to participate in the experience. The results of the commissions are always bold and deeply immersive. There’s something about the unique nature of the space that allows artists to create their own miniature world within its walls. The Curve gallery offers a home for unique experiential art and the gallery adds a further unique venue for the Barbican to offer one-of-a-kind experiences for visitors. Experiences commissioned by the Curve gallery are also free to the public, allowing a broad section of society to engage with this kind of art.
Momentum, United Visual Artists, 2014 Next Time I’m Here I’ll be There, Hans Schabus, 2008
Insights gained
Personas Creating the personas for the event (both for the group and for my own event) made me consider how to design something that appeals to three quite different personalities. I found it challenging to achieve this without compromising, and found the best way for my event would be to have events and aspects that appeal to different personas, rather than creating a compromised event that tries to appeal to all people at all times. Supporting events/Community Involvement I found all the supplementary online material, talks, workshops and community events the Barbican hold to support their exhibitions to be a very engaging idea. I would not have thought of doing as many events involving the local community for my event without having researched the Barbican. Barbican Wayfinding Seeing how well considered the wayfinding of the Barbican Centre was was insightful for me. It was interesting to see how seamlessly the graphic identity of the Barbican worked in print as well as space.
Spotify playlist I created featuring music relating to the exhibition. The Barbican do this for their exhibitions
OVERLOAD Exhibition details My exhibition aims to showcase the work created by Lowbrow artists for the Punk scene in California from the late 1970s to the early 1990s as well as an understanding of how this work was Postmodern. The exhibition begins with information about the California Punk and Hardcore scene from this era, while featuring the record sleeve art, fliers, zines and comics made by those artists connected to the scene. My exhibition would feature walls displaying fliers in the context in which they would be originally seen, and displays allowing the visitors to flip through the Zines and other Punk periodicals. I would also like an area where visitors can actually themselves play and listen to the Punk records discussed to add more interactivity to the experience. The second part of the exhibition would focus more specifically on how Punk Lowbrow art is Postmodern, and provide context for the pieces discussed by showing the material they were referencing/parodying/subverting. The final part of the exhibition would focus on Pop Surrealism – an art movement that is described by critics as the contemporary successor to Lowbrow. In my essay, I argue that this movement represents the Postmodern commoddification of an underground movement, so the space would look different than the rest of the space to highlight this difference.
OVERLOAD Events, Workshops etc. Zine Making Workshop This workshop would involve local schools, colleges or interested visitors who sign up for the event. There has been a contemporary resurgence in Zine making and this would tie in with the content of the exhibition. The workshop would require some instruction and art materials. An information pack would also be distributed informing participants about Zine culture and history as well as contemporary examples of Zines. I feel this could engage younger visitors, and give the event a contemporary element. Music Events The theatre space of the Barbican could be used to hold a gig on the opening and closing nights of the event. Local bands could get the chance to play at the event through battle of the band type competitions. Film Screenings The Barbican’s cinema space could be used to screen documentary films about the Punk and Lowbrow movements as well as cult Lowbrow movies that are tied to these movements.
Imagery from Zine workshops and Proposed location in Barbican Arts Centre for the workshop