Department of Open Spaces

Brieffor Artist in Residence at Tower Bridge

  1. Introduction

Tower Bridge is a familiar sight to millions across the globe. To many people, it is an icon; an internationally understood shorthand for London and the UK. It may also be seen as a feat of Victorian engineering, or as anexample of High Victorian Gothic architecture. To 40,000 commuters daily it is a functional means of getting from A to B, part of the fabric of their everyday, seen but unnoticed.

An Artist in Residence, their process, public engagement activities and the resulting artwork(s), will cause this familiarity to be challenged. These new ways of seeing will start conversations, give cause to pause and reflect on the Bridge, and on what it means and represents to individuals, aligning with our changing brand as an organisation.

This Residency will have public engagement at its heart. We are seeking a data artist with experience in developing and delivering workshops for schools and families.

  1. Objectives

Our overarching objective as part of the City of London is to ensure that “Our spaces inspire excellence, enterprise, creativity and collaboration” and within that to “Protect, curate and promote world-class heritage assets, cultural experiences and events for enrichment, inspiration and learning that is accessible to all.” More locally, our mission as a place of learning is “to enthuse, inform and inspire learners through the exploration of Tower Bridge’s history, purpose, engineering, architecture and people.”

Through this Residency, we aim to:

  • Support contemporary artistic practice
  • Explore new ways of providing meaningful learning experiences for school and family groups, including the opportunity for participants to work with and learn from a professional artist
  • Increase and diversify public engagement
  • Increase local engagement
  • Increase staff engagement
  1. Focus

We invite data artists to apply for our 2018 Artist Residency. Building upon our inaugural residency in 2017, during which artist Alex Evans produced an exquisite collection of new works inspired by the Victorian Gothic architecture of the Bridge, we now seekto reveal new perspectives hidden within the fascinating data built up over its 124-year history.

Available dataincludes that relating to Bridge Lifts, from 1939 until 1956, other statistics pertaining to the Bridge’s construction, structure and mechanical processes. The successful artist will also have access to archives and opportunities for live data gathering.

We welcome submissions from data artists working in any form, e.g. 2D, 3D, digital.

  1. Scope of work

We wish to appoint a data artist with experience in schooland/or family engagement to be resident for a total of 40 days, between August 2018 and January 2019. The residency itself will take place between August – October 2018, followed by an exhibition of the artist’s work, with a maximum of threefurther public engagement activities to be confirmed once the artist is resident. The distribution of days per week may be subject to negotiation between the successful artist and the Tower Bridge team, to be determined prior to the commencement of the residency.

During the course of this Residency the Artist will be required to:

  • Create a new artwork(s) which will be displayed inside Tower Bridge between November 2018 and January 2019 inclusive.
  • Develop and deliver, in partnership with the Tower Bridge Learning team,a series of four to six workshops with one primary school group. The recruitment of the school will be led by the Tower Bridge Learning team.
  • Develop and deliver, in partnership with the Tower Bridge Learning team, 1 x family learning event on a date to be agreed with the appointed artist.
  • Develop and deliver, in partnership with the Tower Bridge Learning and Marketing teams, 1 x public engagement event on a date to be agreed with the appointed artist.
  • Participate in any associated publicity activities and work within the scope of the operational, political and commercial requirements/restrictions of Tower Bridge as an operational service, an international icon and a paid visitor attraction.

Tower Bridge will provide:

  • Support from the Tower Bridge Learning team
  • Public space for display of newly created, and related, artwork(s)
  • Material costs
  • Publicity and marketing
  1. Residency structure

This project is led by the Learning team at Tower Bridge. Your main contact will be:

Natalie Cain Education Officer

Should you have any further questions regarding this brief or if you would like to arrange a site visit, please contact:

Tower Bridge Learning team

Tel: 020 7940 8397

Email:

  1. Timeframe

Milestone / Date
Deadline for application submission / 17.00 Monday 14th May 2018
Interviews / Week beginning 21st May 2018
Preparatory period c. 3 days onsite/offsite / May – Aug 2018
Residency begins / Week beginning 6th August 2018
Residency ends / 4th February 2018
  1. Budget

Artist’s fee: £10,000 for 40 days Residency, from August 2018 – January2019. This is inclusive of travel costs, but exclusive of material costs.

Separate budgets will be available for:

  • Production: £3500
  • Further budgets will be made available for school & family engagement activities, marketing and publicity.
  1. Selection criteria

We are seeking an artist who:

  • Can demonstrate a passion for the artistic inspiration which TowerBridge can provide
  • Has experience of developing and delivering engagement activities
  • Works to schedule and within budget
  1. Returning your submission

To apply please send the followingto :

  • Application form(below)
  • CV
  • Up to three examples of your work (if sent as attachments, please ensure filenames include your name)

Please note: the deadline for submissions has been extended to 5pmon Monday 14thMay 2018. We are looking to appoint an artist by1st June 2018.

Interviews will take place at:

Tower Bridge Offices

Tower Bridge Road

London

SE1 2UP

Tower Bridge Artist in Residence 2018 application form

Contact details
Name
Telephone number
Email address
Please tell us your initial thoughts, in response to the brief, as to how you would approach this residency (e.g. potential artistic approach and output(s) and methodology) (Max 600 words)
Please outline your approach to – and relevant experience of – public engagement (e.g. schools, families, communities, members of the public) (max 500 words)

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