Summit was working for production company 20/20 Events, production managed by Steve Cunningham. Their team of four riggers and two crew was led by Jay Call, and came onsite just seven days before the event opened. The Kent-based company has worked on Frieze Arts for the last three years, each year its role has steadily increased with the stature and popularity of the event.
The wires served two purposes: Firstly, to enable the installation of false ceilings at 4.2m above the floor; these were constructed from white cloth to diffuse the lighting installed above. The ceilings also concealed rigging for a number of galleries who approached Summit to suspend a variety of artworks, and to hide heating ducting running throughout the tents. Secondly, an additional set of wires was installed to suspend the heating ducting itself at 4.7m above the floor. The ducting had vents spaced along its length, and the ceiling was neatly cut into and married up to them so the heat wafted evenly through the structures.
A major task, says Jay Call, was taking care not to over tension the wires or to damage the beam structure of the tents. This was accomplished by using plastic tubing over the SWR, and by installing drop wires at regular intervals along the length of the beams to help lift the SWR and keep it at the required height. This way, a much lower tension could be applied without producing sag in the ceiling.
Summit also suspended a variety of individual artworks for the four-day duration of the event. These include installations for Sadie Coles Gallery, Senn Galerie and Lehmann Maupin. They also installed catenary wires 3m high for the installation of further false ceilings over individual galleries and the cinema, and attached catenary wires around the perimeter of the VIP tent, utilized for hanging drapes.
(Lee Baldock)
