‘Above and Below Me, All Around Me’, David Hugo
David Hugo’s ‘Above and Below Me, All Around Me’, was a site specific response to the new multi-storey car park for the Cargo Centre Heathrow Airport, the geography of the airport’s signage, flight instrumentation and the reality of the cargo centre as a global distribution hub.
‘The transportation of goods and people through the medium of air and water is reflected in the experience of moving through the environment, the stairwell and so the artwork. The artwork in the stairwell has been designed to offer a variety of different points of view and so different visual and perceptual experiences. The viewer moving through the stairwell can look up, down and all around to experience the work differently each and every time he or she encounters the work’, David Hugo.
We commissioned ‘Above and Below Me, All Around Me’ as part of the BAA Art Programme in 1997.
’20th Century’, Michael Samuels
‘20th Century’ was a site specific commission by Michael Samuels for a new multi tenanted office building at BAA Gatwick, open 24/7, designed to help sustain the continued growth of the airport. Samuels re-purposed passenger flight information boards with a comprehensive scrolling list of 20th century influential figures across politics, sports, arts and science. The work defined a sense of place and offered cultural appreciation as a new experience.
We commissioned ’20th Century’ as part of the BAA Art Programme in 1998.
‘Passions’, Kay Walsh
‘Passions’ provided the opportunity for young and vulnerable parents to become confident in image making and explore their individual responses to the word passion. The idea behind the project was to enable the women to explore their own identity outside the role of being a parent. A persona that can often leave women feeling invisible outside of this role.
This project challenged this view by encouraging the participants to work with their passions. By uncovering and exploring parts of their identity that became more hidden or forgotten since embarking on parenthood, they showed a wider view of themselves. The women spoke about the lack of energy and time they had, since becoming a parent, to think about themselves or their own interests. They were asked to think about what they felt passionate about and how they would express this through image making.
Part of the course was to gain new skills and to try photographing different subjects. They explored portraiture, architecture, still life and reportage before setting out on their own to take pictures. The theme allowed them to focus on certain experiences in their daily lives. Throughout the course, each participant gained confidence and developed a strong body of work to describe their own passions. Some had never taken a photo before, others had a camera but hadn’t taken many photos, and all became much more engaged in the process of image making. One parent said “having to give back my camera is like loosing my right arm”.
‘Passions’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).
The project ran from July to December 2014.