Future Perfect: Archive of Ideas

Martino Gamper’s Archive of Ideas is a collapsible and portable display system displayed in community spaces in Hengrove to engage local people in a conversation about the programme and the area as a whole. The boards are made of laminated ply with brightly coloured interchangeable acrylic accessories to suit a range of display requirements. 

Local people were involved in drawing up the brief for this commission, appointing the artist and responding to initial design proposals. By taking residents through the commissioning process the aim was to shed light on the complexities and excitement that comes with commissioning artists to make new works. Gamper also hosted a visit to his studio in Hackney, London for the Future Perfect Art Steering Group and ran free furniture upcycling workshops outside Whitchurch Library for Hengrove residents. 

The Archive of Ideas has been growing and changing as the Future Perfect programme developed and has provided a catalyst for discussion among local people. It is also intended for use by local groups. If you would like to borrow it for a community event (it’s really good for displaying information), contact aldo.rinaldi@bristol.gov.uk or call 0117 922 3064. 

Further info 

Find out more by visiting the Future Perfect Web site www.futureperfectbristol.org containing information on the artists and commissions, as well as videos and photos of activity to date. 

Martino Gamper 

Martino Gamper is an Italian designer/artist based in London. Gamper’s practice is wide-ranging and includes exhibition and interior design, one-off commissions and the design of mass-produced products for the international furniture industry. 

Gamper has an abiding interest in the social aspects of furniture design. In particular, he has a love of corners and is interested in underused spaces and unwanted objects. Reworking furniture that has been dumped on the streets he creates a mismatched family of objects, some of which are beautiful and some pathetic.

Gamper’s work has been shown at the Design Museum, V&A, Hayward Gallery, Wellcome Trust, Frieze Art Fair, The Serpentine Gallery and Royal College of Art in London and further afield at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, Yerba Buena Centre in San Francisco, the American Academy in Rome and the Benaki Museum in Athens. 

Gamper’s interest in social interaction and playful use of materials was ideal for the creation of the Archive of Ideas for Hengrove. 

Field Art Projects 

Field Art Projects is an art consultancy based in Bristol run by Theresa Bergne. Established in 1999, the organisation has more than a decade of experience commissioning visual artists, designers and performers to create permanent and temporary public artworks and event programmes. Projects include Wonders of Weston, a regeneration programme for Weston super Mare, co-curated with Situations, based at the University of the West of England, and an ambitious, award winning public art programme for The Barts Breast Care Centre in London.  Field Art Projects has recently delivered a multi-disciplinary public art project for Sovereign Housing in Barton Hill with the artist Serena Korda and are now working with the University of Bristol on a series of new commissions. 

Jes Fernie 

Jes Fernie is an independent curator and writer based in Colchester in East Anglia. She works with galleries, architectural practices and public realm organisations on public programmes, commissioning schemes and residency projects across the UK. Working primarily beyond gallery walls, she is interested in an expansive idea of contemporary artistic practice, which encompasses dialogue, research, engagement and serendipity. She is a member of many art commissioning selection panels and has worked with organisations including firstsite, Tate, Peer, Serpentine Gallery, RIBA, St Paul’s Cathedral, Central St Martins, University of Essex and the RCA.