Goldsmiths/BAA Expo Award - Overview

Goldsmiths and BAA have joined forces to create a unique contemporary art and design project: the Goldsmiths/BAA Expo Award with af2012. Goldsmiths students from all levels and disciplines have proposed innovative installations for Heathrow Terminal 5, culminating in the commission of two artworks for Departures.

This new partnership started last year and has developed into a meaningful and original project. 70 students in 28 teams originally put ideas forward for the installation. Seven of these teams were invited to develop their concepts and presentations with support from BAA, Goldsmiths, world-leading design and communication agency Imagination and cutting-edge art organization af2012.

Heathrow's role as a gateway for the UK and an international crossroads for the world makes Terminal 5 a dynamic public space that is full of potential for creative intervention. The brief evoked diverse, innovative responses from Goldsmiths' students, who explored such themes as: air travel as a collapse in time and space; the airport as a temporal, non-place of super-modernity; critical awareness of environmental sustainability; global networks of knowledge and connectivity; and the glamour of flight.

Goldsmiths is internationally renowned for contemporary art and forward thinking design. This challenging collaboration between BAA and Goldsmiths forms a new channel for exploring potential relationships between commerce and creative practice. It has generated a fascinating and mutually beneficial critical dialogue between these two influential partners.

After a final presentation, the 2 winning teams were decided by a panel that included Andrew Shoben, Professor of Public Art at Goldsmiths, and Cathy de Monchaux, Goldsmiths' alumna and international artist. Andrew and Cathy went on to mentor the students through the award process, lending professional insight and critique.

The winning teams were: Sally Hogarth and Emma Johnson who put forward 'Taking Place' - a multi media light installation with video imagery from the departure lounges of airports from all over the world; and Lobby, a five strong collaboration who put forward 'Arc' - an arc-shaped structure covered with blue Rimex, the edges illuminated by white LED lights behind a band of frosted perspex.

As a result of this collaboration, these artworks will be displayed for 2 months at Heathrow Terminal 5. The works will be displayed simultaneously on the top floor at Terminal 5 from 13 September - 30 October as part of the 2008 London Design Festival.

The artworks

Taking Place
by Sally Hogarth and Emma Johnson

Bio:
Emma from Surrey and Sally from the Isle of Man, both 22, met at Goldsmiths whilst both studying BA (hons) Fine Art and History of Art. They saw the award as an opportunity to bring together their different specialisms via the airport site: Sally's in social interaction and Emma's in time and space. Emma graduated this year and Sally is in her final year of study.

About Taking Place:
"A terminal exists as a site of transition both physically and emotionally. It is a temporal space for those who pass through it, an in-between space of social connectivity. It is a place of departure and arrival where personal exchanges of emotion are enacted publicly and collectively.

As artists we wanted to create a piece which not only explored these above concepts but offered the passenger a mirror to their own experiences of travel. We wanted to create a piece which enabled a sense of global connectivity encouraging excitement about their journey and physical experience of travelling to their destinations.

The artwork consists of a structural shape, one which echoes the take off runways, and is uplifting in its appearance, drawing the viewers vision up and out to the airside of the terminal. Displayed on this structure are a series of projections consisting of imagery from arrival terminals around the world. The imagery focuses on an aerial view of passengers arriving through the gates
at their destination; the end of the journey, completing a cycle of transition from one space to another. The projections are aligned so that the movement of passengers around the world becomes synchronised with the direction of the structure of our piece, as if they are all walking up and along the artwork.

The piece allows an encounter of time and space, one which is unbounded and unrestricted by geographical distance. It acts as a channel of information tracing the circulation of people at different stages in their journeys. Therefore, reflecting a technological speed of transference from one space in time to another, which embodies the nature of air travel in the 21st century.

The installation incorporates images of past journeys and movements which are encountered in the present and brought together into one site, exploring time relations of past, present and future within the location of an airport and the places it connects to. Therefore the piece is positioned within the context of temporal and shifting relations of time and space.

As the viewers encounter the artwork and the passengers of other destinations, through the projections they are united on the chance encounter of that moment with people experiencing the same notion of transition. The piece also allows the viewers to walk over the projections and along the structure. The projections merge with the presence of the viewer standing on the structure. The work occurs in a moment of encounter between the viewers present and the global passengers projected, hence the artwork relies of this moment of encounter, and so the presence of the viewer completes the piece.

In using imagery from arrival terminals around the world a cycle of connectivity and circulation between different cultures and spaces is collated. An emotional level of the artwork orientates around a sense of connection through location, space and time, and dissolution of distance through a collective global encounter; in that moment the world is a closer place."

Feedback:
"From working together as artists on this project, we now plan to continue working with each other on future projects. We feel the process has given us experience, not only in learning to communicate and work together as a team artistically, but also in a business context, in making sure the project comes together and that our piece is realised to its maximum potential."

Specs:
Taking Place is made from steel and MDF. Video imagery is of the following airport departure lounges: Bangkok and Suvara, Thailand; Tokyo and Narita, Japan; Frankfurt, Germany; Los Angeles, California; Dallas, Texas; andZurich, Switzerland.

Sponsors: Sony.

Arc

by Lobby (Tim Bennett, Peter Joslyn, Matt Johnstone, Magali Reus, Dan Shaw-Town)

Bio:
Tim Bennett 34, Peter Joslyn 34, Matt Johnstone 26, Magali Reus 27 and Dan Shaw-Town 25 met during the MFA Fine art course at Goldsmiths College. In 2007 Shaw-Town and Johnstone curated a group exhibition at Hales gallery in London, including themselves and the other three artists, the title was 'Lobby'. The team, who are each engaged in their own autonomous practices intend to continue to produce occasional collaborative projects, The next being organized by Bennett in Munich this December.

About Arc:
"The form of Arc initially referred to the shape and dimensions of the A380 airbus, which can be seen as the apex of the contemporary 'time capsule': a supermodern, mobile space. The fuselage shaped cross- section that constitutes Arc shares monumental qualities with landmarks from the natural and built environment to embody the idea of a gateway or portal, therefore functioning symbolically as a threshold point of departure.

The white LED lighting in the sculpture creates a complete reflection in the flooring of the space, creating a portal-like shape, or figure of eight.

In developing the idea for Arc, one of the most striking things on entering the new Terminal 5 building is the simplicity with which the architecture forms a continuous, open space. The overriding strength of the building is this generosity, allowing one to see right across the expanse of the terminal. It gives a sense of freedom of movement, accessibility and ease in using the space. The architecture shares a strong relationship with the way that visual information is communicated and received, contributing to the smooth functioning of Terminal 5.

The space overwhelms in its architecture but also in its function as a point of convergence or gateway. This produces another, more abstract function: time and space collapse as a result of the vast and diverse range of itineraries, situations and contexts that convene within. This refers to the immense number of people to whom the space will be a point of departure, whether they are travelling or simply saying their goodbyes, the people passing through the building represent a bustling multitude of differences. In this they bring the architecture to life and help transform Terminal 5 into a truly contemporary space: one that is truly of the moment. Another observation is the that the space can be described as 'transient', therefore one achievement the team hopes to realise through theproject is to monumentalise it, to freeze the moment in memory."

Specs:
Arc is made from: Stainless Steel, Rimex, LED and Perspex.
The dimensions of Arc are: 4.2 x 4.2 x 1m.

Sponsors: Osram and Rimex.

Mentorship

The project has revolved around the mutual benefits of critical engagement between diverse organisations. Knowledge sharing and mentorship has played a key role in the commissioning process.

The teams received critique, professional insight, and technical and logistical advice from several key sources.

Cathy de Monchaux and Andrew Shoben
These two highly acclaimed mentors have offered critique and professional insight throughout the project.

Goldsmiths alumna Cathy de Monchaux has an international reputation for her sculptures, objects and installations. Nominated for the 1998 Turner Prize, she has run several highly successful public art projects and lectured throughout the world.

Andrew Shoben, Professor of Public Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, has worked with the public realm for 15 years. Founder of Greyworld, an award-winning public art practice, Shoben has installed work in some of London's most coveted sites, including outside the Tate Modern, the London Stock Exchange atrium, Hampton Court Palace and Selfridges shop window.

BAA and Imagination
An interim presentation to BAA and Imagination provided the teams with valuable insight into developing proposals for public spaces. Their specialist knowledge has been highly beneficial to the professional development of all participants, aiding an understanding of technical and logistical aspects of public art installation.

Funding/ Sponsorship

BAA provided funds for the artworks, with kind sponsorship from Sony, Osram and Rimex.

Statements

Cathy de Monchaux
"The diverse proposals put forward to the selection panel were of a very high standard. I was really impressed by the depth and intelligence of all the potential projects. Every group had come up with an idea that was developed enough from all aspects to be seriously considered for commission.

"This initiative by BAA and Goldsmiths has given Students a genuine sense of how to propose and pull off a real project; one that has to function in the real world, with all the attendant problems attached. These include:

• Choosing and working with a team
• Coming up with an idea, and being flexible enough to develop it within the terms of the brief
• Putting together realistic budgets and finding a manufacturer
• Presenting ideas to a packed boardroom in a way that makes sense and inspires the selection panel
• Adapting and inventing new solutions to fit in with health and safety and manufacturing considerations
• Project managing the work's manufacture and installation in a very tight timeframe on a very small budget And finally, being the author of a high quality work of Art in a setting as public as Terminal 5, within which they have to communicate their work to press and members of the public in an intelligent and coherent way.

"This is a truly fantastic initiative. BAA and Goldsmiths have gone well out of their way to make it work, and the Artists have approached the whole process with absolute professionalism.

"I wish these works every success in terms of their interaction with the public and hope that it is the start of a long term commitment from BAA."

Professor Andrew Shoben
"I was very happy to get involved in this project, and especially appreciated the chance to work with the students at Goldsmiths on commissioned work. Projects like this prove exciting and inspiring for all involved, and it's not just the students who can learn from the experience. BAA have seen the benefit of commissioning high quality art, and hopefully it will inspire others to do the same."

Charles Byrne, Head of Sponsorship and Experience, BAA
"We are using the Expo program at the airports to showcase and support the great variety of talent we have in the UK. The creative industry is one of London's greatest strengths and something we should celebrate. Goldsmiths has long been a leader in developing this talent and is real national asset. Expo is new ground for us and we are delighted to be working with such impressive and professional students. Both teams have produced exciting and powerful pieces that capture the special nature of Heathrow as the gateway for the UK and an international crossroads for the world."

Professor Geoffrey Crossick, Warden, Goldsmiths, University of London
"I'm delighted that BAA turned to our students for this exciting new initiative in public art, and the interest in the competition amongst Goldsmiths' students was remarkable. The two teams whose work was selected have risen imaginatively to the challenge of producing public art for a distinctive and very contemporary space. I'm sure that those using Terminal 5, passengers and staff alike, will find themselves stopping for a moment and engaging with these very striking works. On behalf of Goldsmiths let me applaud the vision of BAA in deciding to signal the importance of artistic talent in this way. We - and our students - really look forward to working with them again next year."

The Shortlist

Through Time and Space
by InterDesign (Danny DY Lee, Stephan Bischof and Hyun Sung Lee)

Bio:
We first met in summer 2007 at the introduction week of the MA in Critical Practice. We have worked on individual project inspiring and advising each other from our own practices and also worked together on group projects, where we identified our individual strengths to build a strong alliance. The diversity in our cultural backgrounds made us good candidates for such a project as the TERMINAL 5 Installation and as a result we produced a characteristically powerful outcome, which was very motivating to continue together on further projects. We all are confident to create work in respect to a global audience.

About:
We are trying to glorify and pin-point the importance of airports as portals, which connect diverse cultures and create a globalised network of awareness and knowledge, in one space. The customers should experience in seconds what the airports and aeroplanes as a system stands for; by passing through a series of five gates each resembling a continent with specific output of sounds and visuals. By passing through the installation one would be the imperative link between different worlds, resembling unity.

As a consequence of our somewhat unique multicultural backgrounds we consider ourselves to be in an enormously privileged position from which to understand both, the interests and aesthetic sensibilities of all of those clients who will pass through what is undoubtedly one of the largest, most diverse, challenging, and yet simultaneously fascinating cultural mixing pots in the modern -or perhaps more appropriately postmodern world. In lieu of this we would like to propose what we have come to describe as a conceptual ambience for our contribution to the competition.
From the passenger s point of view, as Marc Auge has pointed out in his well known anthropological analysis of what he calls the non-places of supermodernity, the spaces of our late, super, or postmodernity - of which the airport is a prime example - can be extremely cold, alienating, and dislocating spaces. As a consequence of this we are seeking to develop a design that re-engages with, recontextualises, or re-creates a sense of the genius loci or spirit of place of both all those cultures who pass through this space, and indeed the space itself. A difficult task that precludes strong authoritative or proscriptive designs, and hence why we are attempting to develop what we describe as a conceptual ambience.

The Terminal is both the first and last point of communication with the UK, and thus offers the opportunity to both celebrate the possibilities of that journey that one is about to undertake, remember that culture that one is about to leave, and yet simultaneously celebrate or introduce that culture that one is arriving into.

The continuous flow of people through this space thus offers an incredibly unique opportunity to engage with an incredibly diverse range of cultures, people, and beliefs, and thus also provide a platform for their possible communication, representation, and understanding. An opportunity that we would suggest most airports never even think of taking up. Indeed most passengers in these environments never seem to interact with each other - the old don't talk to anyone in the lift scenario! - as both time, movement, and any form of interaction are ever increasingly channeled, directed and planned to every last detail. So whilst in theory the air transport system is well organised, simplified and very user-friendly, it is unquestionably also an environment of stress and tension. A fact which we would suggest thus necessitates an equally corresponding and gentle response.

As previously mentioned, Marc Auge suggests that these spaces are non-places. Places that are never really complete, in constant motion, change, and flux. Places that are simultaneously filled with diversity and yet never capable of recognising the diversity of those footprints that are left behind within it. A Fact that ultimately leads to a constant overwriting and loss of place. We are not accepting this theory as a fact, as a reaction we want to critically engage in this subject of proofing and realization and strike back with a display of the result in an audience consistent of all altitudes.

Feedback:
We as InterDesign have felt an overwhelming comfort in participating in such a competition. We enjoyed the diversity of creative knowledge and fields of the surrounding participants and discovered a great challenge, which we are always keen to find. It is always valuable for personal development to stand and present work in front of people we respect and as a result we have learnt more on how to create and pitch professional work in a professional manner. The only concern we had was that we wished for a more constructive competition, which would be helpful for the development of everybody's work.

500 Carbon Blocks
by Jonathan Pinchard, Ian Parkin and Thomas Poole

Bio:
Since starting the BA Art Practice course at Goldsmiths in 2007, Ian Parkin, Jonathan Pinchard and Thomas Poole have worked together frequently. Not long after starting the course, Ian and Jonathan, with the help of fellow student Michael Harvey, founded the Goldsmiths student based art collective Brake. As the group grew stronger and larger, Tom became instrumental in running the group, which culminated in a one off music and exhibition event at Corsica Studios - Elephant and Castle. Since Brake, the trio have worked together on various projects. Jonathan and Tom have started a series of interviews with prominent figures in the artworld, and Tom and Ian worked together for the July 2008 exhibition Soviet Colour Museum at Noilas Gallery. With more exhibitions already planned, this appears to be a working relationship that is only at the start of a long and succesful journey.

About:
Our sculpture would have consisted of 500 carbon blocks situated in a grid within a glass display case. The 500 carbon blocks roughly corresponded to the number of flights departing from TERMINAL 5 per day. The connection between the two displays a direct visual link between aircraft and their - to use the popular phrase - 'carbon footprint'. While this connection seems like a blatant affront to laissez-faire attitude towards flying, or more importantly, reliance upon the aviation industry, it presents itself as a neutral work of art. This is in the sense that on appearances, you are presented with a slick, aesthetically considered post-minimal sculpture, however through the 'clue' of the title, you are given a choice. Ignore the connection to climate change, and such other implications of the piece, and appreciate it for its aesthetic value, as a piece, which attempts to reflect and adorn the polished architecture of TERMINAL 5. Or, alternatively, as a sculpture that provides an institutional critique, in a Trojan horse-esque manner, a piece that brings an important issue right to the new showcase of its protagonist.

Feedback:
"The competition has given us the ability to mature our approach to work, and expand our scope. The challenge we undertook was certainly new to us, but we found we were able to adapt well to the creative, conceptual, and practical challenges posed by the competition. In doing so, it has helped us develop as artists and has given us a thirst for more opportunities like the expo award."

Departures
by Bradley Hayman, with Sarah Rowles

Bio:
Bradley and Sarah met in their first year at Goldsmiths (2005) through Bradley's flatmate in halls that was on Sarah's BA Art History course. Sarah found she missed making artwork and having completed a foundation course returned to Goldsmiths to start BA Art Practice in 2007-8 and subsequently assisted Bradley in the installation of his BA Fine Art (Studio Practice and Contemporary Critical Studies) degree exhibition when the opportunity for the BAA Expo came up. They have shared interests in the critique of the gallery system, Bradley looking at the architecture of the white cube and the infiltration of light into a dark space, and Sarah interviewing gallerists and artists about the art market.

About:
'Departures' follows Bradley's recent work, which is interested in the photographic observation and capturing of light flowing within or permeating architectural spaces, relevant to the architectural brief of allowing more light into the new building than previous terminals. With these exposures he has made a variety of installations in a site-specific context, positioning photographic prints or slide projections within or close to the location photographed or using lights and other materials to physically recreate the situation, drawing attention to the original phenomena.

"Visiting Terminal 5, we did not find any exciting visual patterns of natural light entering the building to use in this way, but instead were drawn towards the way lights placed across the arched roof are reflected in the windows as a series of arced dotted lines of lights. Having photographed this on transparency film, a series of LEDs (light emitting diodes) would be positioned according to the pattern of light observed in the windows by projecting the slide photograph. These would be installed in a wooden wall or pillar standing on the allocated space, near the windows observed and photographed, in a form that architecturally mirrors the design of the beacons (signs) that stand along the check-in area. The pattern would be applied to both sides so the work could be viewed from either direction along the check-in area.

"Given that there seems to be a sense of movement or travel in the pattern and to reflect the flow of passengers through the airport, past the artwork, the LEDs would be illuminated in a slow progression that develops this journey outwards from centre-bottom along the radiating lines of lights until all are lit. The lines of lights perhaps also look like the lights along the edge of the airport runways and the wall of LEDs could possibly be viewed as a galaxy of twinkling stars towards which aeroplanes head on takeoff.
It would be 10ft (3062mm) high x 15ft (4575mm) wide x approximately 70cm (the depth of the beacons)."

Feedback:
"This project has given experience of managing budgets, and an understanding of the constraints and necessary compromise of working under commission for a large company and placing art in the public realm, such as health and safety, disability awareness, scale, material, cost, installation methods and design."

The Flow
by Jan Oosterhuis, with Michael Heilgemeir

Bio:
Starting off with the concept alone, Jan required a companion to take this project further for this award. As Michael and I study the course "MA Image & Communications" at Goldsmiths, we were familiar with each other's qualities and working methods. Together with him and our experience in creating installations, I knew I was able to get the project to a higher level. Since the beginning of the competition we were successfully working together, perfectly complementing each other.

About:
The Flow is a passive-interactive 3-dimensional installation that adjusts to its constantly changing environment. It is an approachable, self-contained 2.5m³ cube with vibrant animated projection screens. The projected interactive visual, which gathers input from sensors, contains colourful flowing lines representing the number and the location of individuals passing by the sensors.

Each time a person passes by the screen, a new colourful line appears and follows the horizontal direction of his/her movement in a playful fashion.  As more people pass by the screens, more lines are created and become intensified. If a person stands still in front of the projection, the line transforms into a recognizable yet abstracted image associated with a city landmark or a particular travel destination.
 
The Flow gives a joyful visual experience to both people who interact with it and spectators in the distance, thereby creating a personal, accessible and global language.

Feedback:
"This competition is a great opportunity to share ideas with professionals. Due to a close collaboration with Goldsmiths College and its support in this entire process was a positive and enriching experience. Collaborating with BAA and Imagination is a tremendous opportunity and gives a very usefull insight to the operations of such successful companies. The whole process is very exciting and motivating."

The VIPs Starring Heathrow Terminal Five
by Than Clark and Amy Lien

Bio:
Than Clark, 26, BA Art Practice and Amy Lien, 21, Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University met at Goldsmiths during Amy's year as a visiting student on the BA Art Practice course.

About:
Antony Asquith's Classic MGM Drama "The Vips" starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton originally shot in Heathrow Terminal 3 in 1963, is remade and re-presented in Rodgers new now iconic Terminal Five. Cinematic anachronism becomes a strategy to investigate the past's imprint on the present within the extremely regimented environment of the contemporary airport and the technocratic ideals of contemporary architecture, emphasizing, through aesthetic rupture, the exclusivity of the past relenting to the participatory field of 'now' in order to ask in what new space can we relocate our fantasy of flight?

An elongated red carpet stretches from the entrance bridge and continues towards the security check-in point. All Passengers arriving at Terminal Five are privileged to walk down the red 'VIP" carpet, which re-enacts the original marketing line for the film 'Every passenger is a VIP to BOAC'. This red carpet leads to a self-standing Billboard Structure laid at a diagonal across the allocated exhibition space, which takes into account issues of passenger flow and sightlines towards the security checkpoint. The structure is also surrounded by a circle of red carpet .The side of the structure facing the Terminal Five Entrance will display a large illuminated Movie Poster advertising our Film, in the Style of the Original Asquith Poster, with the original cast replaced by our new one. Information about the original film and our remake will be written into the 'credits' section of the poster. The security-facing side of the structure is inlaid with an LCD screen on which our version of the film will be played on loop. A brass plaque inlaid beneath the LCD Screen reads: 'Scenes from 'The VIPS' starring Heathrow Terminal 5.' The structure is finished in stained mahogany, which references the interior of Heathrow Terminal 3 VIP Lounge in 1963.

The re-imagined 'VIPs' consists of a series of abridged scenes from the original film, set against the backdrop of Terminal 5. Each carefully selected scene captures a segment of heightened melodrama from the original film which functions simultaneously to perforate the viewer's 'present' state in the airport and to impart the familiarity of glamour that remains buried within the psychological longing for air travel even now. As the original producer of the VIPs Anatole De Grunwald wrote about the making of the original film: " Film makers were obsessed with sociological documents. I was determined my pictures with MGM would be entertaining; I want my pictures to be glamorous entertainment. I am not ashamed of that word Glamorous." Ironically in our remade VIPs it is the very notion of glamour that makes the documentary and the sociological explicit. Each scene is demarcated by a fade into a 15-second musical interlude, which makes the entire film read as a series of vignettes. Seen together, the scenes form a cohesive narrative in which the characters' problems are introduced and resolved. However, each scene also stands alone in imparting the anachronistic comedy, romance, and melodrama that courses through the original film. We plan to shoot over the course of three days during Heathrow's off-peak hours. The film will be shot on one high-definition digital camera, using a small portable lighting kit. The actors cast cross-racially and cross-generationally, will be shot in a separate studio against a green screen. The cinematic shots of contemporary Heathrow would then be 'sutured' into these scenes, thereby reappropriating the antiquated camera tricks used in the bygone days of movie production. Just as technology has widened the privilege of air travel from 'somebodies' to everybody, so has it given us the means to produce the high-budget special effects of Hollywood's past with limited funds.

Contacts and further information

For more information on the London Design Festival visit: www.londondesignfestival.com

Goldsmiths, University of London is a leading institution in undergraduate and postgraduate education with an internationally recognised reputation in both the arts, cultural industries, humanities, and social sciences. Our contribution to this years London Design Festival in many ways reflects the uniquely interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of education at Goldsmiths, as students from both the Departments of Art and Design have been involved in all facets of the development of our exhibitions, workshops, and symposiums.

BAA Press /image enquiries:
Hannah Hull
Communications and Publicity
Tel: 020 7919 7970
E-mail: press@gold.ac.uk