Residual Projects - South Square Gallery

Seven artists – six residencies – one group show

Since September 2014 I've been working on promotional material, branding and way finding design for Residual Projects, an exhibition at the South Square Gallery in Bradford. Theres a few photos of the opening night below, Images of some fold out flyers and posters I produced for the event.

The concept behind Residual Projects branding, looks at sedimentary rocks and pebbles, communicating layers through a common natural form. The simplicity of this shape captures the theory behind the way the exhibition is being conducted.

https://www.facebook.com/residualprojects

http://www.southsquarecentre.co.uk/

Above is Residual Projects first form of branding, used across letterheads, business cards and all promotional material to tie together their identity. The segments and sections have come a long way since my first proposal for their branding. The shapes initially were very sharp and angular moulding into one another to represent an evolution from one stage to another.  After a couple of weeks of amendments and concept building, me and the client reduced ideas from my proposals to work with something much more simplistic and minimal. The pebble shapes are used to visually articulate how the exhibition is conducted; Each artist adds to the space leaving previous artists work, adding layers to the exhibition throughout its duration. We needed an icon and firm image to represent progression, growth and evolution, Sedimentary rocks and pebble formations became the most natural way I came across communicating these aspects.

Residual Projects is the culmination of an annual traineeship programme between South Square Gallery and The Hepworth Wakefield, which sees Curator Charlie Booth make her debut.

‘Residual Projects is a critical look at traditional artists residencies, where work will be created and installed whilst the gallery is open. The result will be a group exhibition which grows week by week as different artists enter and leave the space. This is an interactive project, where visitors are invited to engage with the work being created so as to better understand the processes
used and decisions made.’

Residual Projects is a series of miniature residencies with seven nationwide artists using the gallery to explore their own artistic interests whilst the gallery is open to the public. The work they create during their residency will be left for the next artist to negotiate. The aim is to create a dynamic group exhibition which explores how artists can work collaboratively.

All participating artists will be creating new work which responds directly to the physical architectural or social history of South Square Gallery and the history of Thornton.

Residual Projects is inspired by remnants of previous exhibitions that have taken place in the space. The building was originally a collection of stonemason’s cottages and for the last 30 years has been an art gallery and community centre. Today the gallery retains many of the

domestic features left over from these houses as well as residual markers left over from these houses previous art exhibitions.

Residual Projects also aims to explore different formats for artist residencies. The projects will be short sharp bursts of artistic activity followed by periods of reflection and evaluation. This is the first of two stages of Residual Projects which will continue in Manchester in Spring 2015.

Below; I created a fold out flyer showcasing each artist and a little taster of the style of work they aimed to produce.