Fairground Design - 2011 Update
In 2009 the National Fairground Archive embarked on a mission to describe fairground art and design in a whole new way, bringing in aspects of ultra-modernism alongside concepts of design on micro and macro levels - from the individual aspects of the ride, through to the ride itself, through to the fairground as a complete, immersive totality. This allowed us to discuss and develop contemporary themes and styles of 'art' in the same context as understanding structural aesthetics (metals, plastics, etc) and atmospheric providers (light, sound, etc) with more overarching themes such as technological determinism and shifting relations between the public, art and fairground art. With the help of photographer Shaun Martin and writer Owen Ralph we can take a sample of where these ideas are moving and developing two years later.
Structure and technological imperialism
Our suggestion of technology becoming a multi-faceted force for change was summarised as follows: "We have seen how the post 1980s fairground machine is shaped by both the technological advances in what is possible in terms of movement and the general desire to engage the technological fetishism that is prevalent in society. Furthermore, the structural ingredients of the modern fairground ride - metal and fabrication - increasingly become morphed into the decorative aspects of the fairground ride, uprooting earlier distinctions between structure and décor shown through the long era of wooden fairground rides. It is anticipated that this trend will continue, with rides developing a 'thrill factor' that is mirrored with a stark and high-tech appearance - clean and flat surfaces in polished or white-painted metal, an aversion to robotic architecture and antennae-like structures."
In 2011 the UK fairground scene witnessed both an anniversary and a new arrival. This year saw the tenth anniversary of the Booster ride, introduced into the country with a Fabbri model travelled by the pioneering partnership of Matt and Douglas Taylor. This ride has seen a decade of gradual dominance, firmly imprinting the mark of the fairground as a high-tech aerial experience. The Booster moved through a series of releases by Fabbri, to a typically smart-engineered version by KMG, through to the current incarnations of super-sized examples.
The purchase of the ride 'Air' by Abie Danter saw the bar shifted even higher with this shuddering piece of technology from the company Zierer (ride type 'Star Shape'). Air was eagerly anticipated and represented a pinnacle of engineering possibility with regard to multiplying spinning movements through an extended aerial vista. The aesthetic appearance of Air was both understated and very specific - its plain white demeanour borrowed heavily from the design ethos of the giant observation wheels which are becoming stationed across the principal cities throughout the world. The megalithic stature of these wheels, and thus by default Air, affords them to work with a clean understated design that immediately harnesses a sense of superiority against the overshadowed environment (for the observation wheel - the city, for the ride Air, the fairground in the first instance, the city as a possibility).
Overview topology of the ride 'Air'.
Seating arrangements in modern style.
Ornate counterbalance introduces the tribal theme.
Tribal motifs on the pay-box, crossing between a 'purified' essence of the rave scene and raw rock - the ancient in the ultra-modern.
Lighting and materials
Lighting on the fair has seen unsurpassed take-up of LED systems, offering unmatched levels of brightness, energy savings due to lower power consumption combined with an ability to switch and effect and utilise a new versatility of colour. The 'traditional' light-bulbs that formed the warm glow and hub of the fair, a blazing aesthetic, are becoming a thing of the past. LED lights dovetail with metal and plastic, allowing illuminated areas to become precisely formed shapes fitting with the modernist design intent of the particular riding device. The role of light on the fairground thus expands in functionality: the overview purpose, to supplement the atmosphere creating a beacon from afar, like the fascination of a distant fire, busy conurbation or productive factory, is maintained - the flickering and programming of the LEDs not perceived amongst the aura of the glow as a whole. On a molecular level, the machine itself is personalised with an array of colours, sequences and phase changes melded into the most precise shapes within the tightest confines of the structure.
Modern lighting keeps with the tribal identity.
Detail of LED light.
Hart's Booster shows no limit to surfaces covered and designs achieved.
Detailed shapes and lettering.
The key development in the continuation of metals and plastics has been the steady flow of new Waltzer rides from the FairTrade company. To stalwarts of the traditional art this seems heretical, with the Waltzer being the canvas for the repeating scrolls and figurative interludes of 'classic' painted art. The Waltzer, however, is a social ride - and the social need transcends the strictures of singular methods of presentation and signature. The new Waltzer socialises the riders in a swanky, modernised environment, resplendent as some kind of futuristic night club.
Modern surfaces all over for the new-look Waltzer.
Bolts from above scultpted from light and metal.
Digital practices accelerated
Digital art emerged in recent years, allowing works to be created and produced in a digital environment. Previous developments had seen digital works created at a test-level for the customer by the artist, only to be formally created using the airbrush technique. Vinyl transfer method meant that digitally rendered works could be pushed through to production phase, created on vinyl sheets that are then applied to the ride. Issues of light-fastness continue to dog this method.
For 2011 the process of printing onto aluminium composite 'dibond' has seen a potential explosion in growth of the new media through companies like Colourbanners working with established artists such as Paul Wright. As discussed in our 'futures' article, various strands emerge for consideration - the digital environment invites copyright breach at a multitude of levels - from directly sampled sources images and logos, through to final work re-sampled or re-used without authorisation. The digital environment and ease of creation and sampling also invites rapid turnover of themes and iconography, as we see in the next section. Finally, digital art provides a strange hyper-real sense of engagement on the fairground. Digital work in general is being claimed as leaving 'nothing to the imagination' and such an effect on the fairground rings true to the point of creating a strange clash between what is comprehended and what is intended with a piece of art. Perfectly rendered figures plucked from digital utopias - the 'beach' or the 'dancefloor' - sit amongst the backgrounded effects and swirls, to the point that it no longer feels like art (painted, airbrushed or otherwise), but almost like the co-existence of a disjointed other-reality.
Perfect teeth perfectly rendered.
Contrasting realities - clinical beach versus real garbage.
Old as new - digitally rendered and produced painted art reverses the ethos.
Death disco?
The past ten years of airbrush art, pushed on by the large canvas provided by the Miami Trip ride, has seen the rave and dance genres dominate the iconographic and figurative environments. Trends in 2011 do not see this substantially declining, perhaps in some regards merely refining. The aforementioned 'Air' sees the tribal input, and this iconography appeared on a few Miami rides - the tribal signatures mixing with images of tattoos and piercings to represent both an aspect of rave culture affirmed by the dedication of the participants and also a crossover point into some of the modern rock sub-genres. The ecstatic figure, close up in facial mode, seems to be the de-facto way of representing the euphoria and bliss of the sustained rave moment.
Day Brothers - Daze bespoke - show the ecstasy of the rave.
The cultural influence of rock music, its various micro-genres and even crossover into the dance scene has not materialised as a mainstream source of fairground art. Cartoon manifestations of music culture (Hed Kandi) and life in general (vehicles, women, etc) seem to be the subject of a new direction in quasi-figurative work, allowing the artist to work out a signature stamp and at the same time avoid the pressures of getting realistic figurative work to the required standard. Classic airbrushed figurative work on the whole tries to represent some kind of ultimate beauty and sexuality - and a poorly executed version of codified expression of beauty (perfect body, hair, teeth, etc) makes for a disastrous outcome.
Elsewhere, the Day brothers seem to be evolving a corporate look to the Orbiters at the moment with use of yellow/black stripey danger borders - using a kind of radioactive slime last seen in the horror VHS crazes of the 1980s. And, of course, key films continue to emerge as subject singularities. Some of these are shown below in the conclusion to this short article.
A fresh take on the cartoon genre pictures the life of the fairground itself as subject.
Hazards, warnings, neons and slime green are key on the modern Extreme Orbiter.
Singularity - 'Transformers' on Thurston's Orbiter.
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