Commission Opportunity: Mobile Food Unit (Take A Part, Plymouth)
Deadline: January 29, 2012
Commission Opportunity: Mobile Food Unit (Take A Part, Plymouth)
Opportunity/Commission: To design and make a Mobile Unit that will act as meeting place, eating place, a site of creative interaction, exchange, sharing and discussion.
The Mobile Unit will create a temporary roving space that moves between different neighbourhoods and events in Plymouth. Working with local people and visitors the unit will be a multi authored evolving installation and a base for gathering together, foraging, cooking, eating and exchange. The unit will be multifunctional and visually iconic. It will use sustainable design techniques in choice of materials and technologies wherever possible. The designer/maker(s) will work closely with the commissioning artist Anne-Marie Culhane and associate artist Ruth Ben-Tovim.
Total Budget £7,000
Commissioned by Grow Efford part of Take A Part which is managed by Heart of Efford Community Partnership, Plymouth Arts Centre and Plymouth City Council. Grow Efford is funded by Arts Council England.
For a full brief email: [email protected]
Deadline for applications: Sunday 29 January 2012
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Further information can be found below:
Provisional title: Shed on Wheels (S.O.W.)
BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT: The S.O.W. integrates the arts of imagination and the visual arts with practical skills of growing, cooking and harvesting. The mobile unit will act as an active tool for combining these objectives. It will use green design techniques (in choice of materials and technologies) and will create a temporary roving space that moves between different neighbourhoods and events. It will act as meeting place, eating place, a site of creative interaction, exchange, sharing and discussion. Working with local people and visitors the S.O.W will become a multi authored evolving installation using a combination of photography, visual arts and text, cooking and eating to explore themes of people, their environment and food. Its mobility means that project ideas and themes will cross-fertilise and connect the different locations across the city.
The S.O.W. has been born out of the Grow Efford project which has been running since 2009 in Efford, Plymouth. This project has worked with people off different ages in a number of ways to reconnect them to their local environment and local food sources including wild and foraged food. We would like to share some of our learning and engage with other areas of Plymouth involving people from Efford as project support.
Grow Efford was devised by Anne-Marie Culhane who was commissioned as part of Take A Part which is managed by Heart of Efford Community Partnership. It is funded by Arts Council England. Other partners for the project include Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Public Health Unit, Co-operative Community Fund and the Soil Association.
THE MOBILE UNIT:
The unit has a number of interchangeable functions:
- It is a gathering and meeting place for communities to share stories and experiences intimately with each other and to host discussions
- A space that can be used for evolving participatory installations and displays
- A place to make, prepare and eat - cooking, local harvesting and eating together
- It will have the capacity to show films on a small scale if possible using cycle power.
- It will form part of community engagement and participation at events across Plymouth.
The unit will be made with a focus on visual impact and material recycling, reuse and resourcefulness. We want to create something unique, multifunctional and visually iconic.
The unit will where possible demonstrate renewable energy and best practice energy recycling for example composting, rocket stove or other type of fossil fuel free safe cooking system, solar power, rainwater harvest and potentially with bike-powered elements (for power and or kinetic use). The unit will need to be secure and functional on wet days ie have covered areas or awnings.
The unit could be for example a recycled caravan, shed, trailer, horsebox or custom designed from scratch. It needs to be road worthy and as lightweight as possible. It is a point of discussion for the designer/maker(s) and commissioning artists whether the unit is powered by fossil fuels (most likely trailer pulled by another vehicle) or by bike(s). Efficient energy use in all parts of development and functioning of the unit is paramount. It will need to be intelligently designed to maximize use of a small space and allow for multiple functions.
TIMELINE: Interviews beginning of January 2012. Maker/designer(s) commissioned beginning of February 2012. S.O.W. launch May 2012.
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS:
The designer/maker(s) will work closely in a team with commissioning artist Anne-Marie Culhane and Ruth Ben-Tovim associate artist. This will involve regular meetings over the design and concept of the S.O.W. The designer and maker could be different people who are happy to work collaboratively with each other and the commissioning and associate artist.
We may be able to provide volunteer support from the Efford community as part of the design and build of the unit.
The maker/designer(s) will need to have their own insurance.
For this project Anne-Marie Culhane is working with Ruth Ben Tovim (Encounters Arts). Ruth has created a number of temporary shops and mobile installations and is internationally renowned for her creative community engagement work. Anne-Marie and Ruth have been collaborating for the last two years working across different generations and communities in Liverpool (Bluecoat), Doncaster, London (ArtsAdmin) and Dartington.
BUDGET: Total design and build fee including all materials £7000
HOW TO APPLY: If you would like to be considered for this commission please provide:
- A maximum of 500 words how you would approach the brief and details of relevant experience you have including projects where you have demonstrated successful teamworking
- A copy of your current CV, highlighting relevant qualifications and experience for this commission
- Images of 6 pieces of appropriate recent work provided as Jpegs
- Contact details of two referees for work completed within the last 5 years.
Please email applications to: [email protected]
Deadline for applications Sunday 29 January 2012
Interviews will be held Wednesday 8 February 2012.
