Fresh From The Field — Queer Pavilion by Rebecca Steedman
This Fresh From The Field by Rebecca Steedman heroes bold repetitive typographic elements, interconnected and layered to represent diverse voices for the 2020 Queer Pavilion.
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The Brief :
Queer Pavilion is a drifting structure for art, performance and conversation which resided in the Rangipuke Albert park for six days during the Auckland Pride Festival (1-7 February 2020). The curator, artist Richard Orjis selected this site as Aotearoa’s first public Gay Liberation protest, led by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku in 1972, he says “The project began life as a discussion about bttm methodology, an approach to art-making, pedagogy and kinship driven by the tenets of CONNECTIVITY, PLEASURE & SUB-VERSION.” Participating artists include Ary Jansen, Daniel John Corbett Sanders, Forest Vicky Kapo, Jaimee Stockman-Young, Layne Waerea Mahonri & Hobbs, Megha Pashe Akshon, Micheal McCabe, Sione Monu, val smith, Whaea & The Rumble.
During the week Queer and gender diverse artists created new artistic works responding to the site, history and pavilion, which also offered social spaces for “…kai, kawhe and kōrero.” Activities were encouraged to include failure, site-orientated art exhibitions, spongy workshops, gradual discussions, and invert sound installations. The ethos of bttm methodology was explored as a guiding framework for Queer Pavilion “…looking at things from behind and below, it is connective, counter, subterranean, open, slow, passively active, and pleasure seeking.”
The brief for the design was left open, in keeping with the spirit of the project itself.
The Design Response:
Focusing on connectivity, the repetition and layering of typographic form within the design visually reflects the linking together of the multiple voices and experiences of collaborators. The design was created to enable the use of multiple changing colours; and can be read from multiple directions, and be used online and offline (from moving image to risograph prints). The typographic design utilises Kris Sowersbys’ Untitled Sans.
Rebecca Steedman collaborated on artworks with Wilde Projects (including Richard Orjis and val smith) late last year, creating large scale screen print works currently being exhibited in the Civic Pride exhibition at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. This meant there were regular conversations taking place about both projects, so the whole process was very organic. (https://dunedin.art.museum/exhibitions/present/civic-pride/).
The Creative team:
Design: Rebecca Steedman www.rebeccasteedman.com
The project is documented on Instagram at Queer Pavilion #queer_pavilion
www.queerpavilion2020.com
http://www.artspace-aotearoa.nz/exhibitions/queer-pavilion
https://aucklandpride.org.nz/queer-pavilion/
