The Gift Factory

Southbank Centre Winter Festival (2013) The Gift Factory was created by Jo Peel and fabricated by AJ&B with a soundtrack created by Jim Carey (Exit Through the Gift Shop) With real smoke billowing from the chimney, this installation was created on the terrace of the Royal Festival Hall especially for the Southbank Centre’s Winter Festival.

One side of the factory was cut away to reveal a cross-section of the inside of the building and we invited people to walk inside the factory and make a message to a loved one on a gift card.

The colour of the card changed each day and once written, the cards were hung in the factory apex, creating a rainbow installation of messages, growing in size throughout the month.

The entire process could be viewed from outside the factory, lit up by coloured lights in the winter evenings so that even if you couldn’t get inside the factory, the process could be seen from the outside.

The purpose of the factory was to promote the act of giving without receiving, whilst also letting the visitor consider the physical process of making gifts and consumerism. The interior of the factory is set out like a workshop, with shelving and industrial furniture as well as cogs set high in the roof apexes.