Project Partners: SKIP Gallery, Fandangoe Kid, Centrespace Design, The Loss Project, BK Waste Management

Project Brief: 1 in 4 of us will experience mental health challenges in our lifetime, something that has been significantly impacted by the global pandemic. Challenges with our mental health can feel incredibly isolating but in reality it’s something so many of us experience. The candy-coloured, ice-cream-kiosk-in-a-skip will appeared in London during summer 2022 at Greenwich Peninsula and then in Canary Wharf. The installation hosted 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.

Our Services: Idea Generation, Brief development, Concept Design, Developed Design, Technical Design, Construction.

Photographs: Tara Darby, Lee Baker

In July 2022, Fandangoe Kid, SKIP Gallery and CAUKIN Studio launched candy-coloured ice-cream kiosk Fandangoe SKIP in support of mental health.

The candy-coloured, ice-cream-kiosk-in-a-skip appeared in London in Greenwich Peninsula and continued on to Canary Wharf. The installation hosted free mental health workshops alongside delicious scoops of ice cream made by ‘A Portuguese Love Affair’. The project will eventually 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-pressurised 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 – colourful graphic and pattern 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 their 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 having 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 coordinated varied and free mental health workshops that carefully considered and explored the complexities of mental health, grief and loss as well as helping people to explore their experiences through shared connection and creativity.