Fandangoe Skip Ice Cream Kiosk / CAUKIN Studio + Fandangoe Kid + SKIP Gallery
Fandangoe Skip Ice Cream Kiosk / CAUKIN Studio + Fandangoe Kid + SKIP Gallery
Text description provided by the architects. Fandangoe Kid, SKIP Gallery, and CAUKIN Studio launch candy-colored ice-cream kiosk ‘Fandangoe SKIP’ in support of mental health. The candy-colored, ice-cream-kiosk-in-a-skip will appear in London this summer, starting in Greenwich Peninsula and continuing on to Canary Wharf. The installation hosts free mental health workshops alongside delicious scoops of ice cream made by ‘A Portuguese Love Affair’. The project will then make its way over to NYC, following a commission by BBC World Service to document Fandangoe Kid’s work.
“The Fandangoe SKIP seeks to connect with audiences on many levels, offering ice cream as an ageless and classless platform for immediate engagement in a non-pressurized environment…This installation means a great deal to me, it’s something I have been working towards for most of my practice, knowing first-hand how important it is to have responsible outlets to nurture and maintain our individual and collective mental health…” – The Fandangoe Kid
This stand-out kiosk was made in collaboration with CAUKIN Studio, a social enterprise that creates impact through architecture. The studio combined Fandangoe’s signature visual style – colorful graphics and patterns and text, with functional and striking architectural design. Working and playing with the form and dimensions of the skip, CAUKIN inverts the design for the floating canopy, taking a visually heavyweight feature and remaking it with lightweight timber, allowing the addition of creative openings, fold-down hatches, and doors. For the public workshops, they have integrated seating for outside, focused around the centerstage – while for 1-to-1 sessions the entire structure can be folded down to create the desired level of privacy.
SKIP Gallery has a reputation for its punk-like spirit and has popped up in unexpected places through collaborations with major contemporary artists including the likes of Gavin Turk, Richard Woods, and David Shrigley. Fandangoe Kid is a print artist who makes large-scale narrative-driven pieces for the public realm. Her work seeks to smash taboos around mental health, grief, loss, trauma, and gender constructs.
Fandangoe’s work is driven by her own story following the loss of family members in 2011. Her practice is inspired by the desire to create a platform for open dialogue around the still taboo subject of grief. Describing her family as a “melting pot of big characters” she has always been interested in “big visual storytelling”. She believes “everyone just wants to connect” and have received overwhelming feedback from the public, she wants the installation to provide a space for people to share their stories, and smash the stigmas associated with loss and grief.
The Loss Project is coordinating varied and free mental health workshops that carefully considers and explores the complexities of mental health, grief and loss as well as helping people to explore their experiences through shared connection and creativity.
