Pete Bateman: Creator of festival universes
The Creative World of Pete Bateman: Transforming Recycled Materials into Art
I've just returned from a visit to Pete's workshops, which are just a few minutes' drive from NetJuggler, in the Limousin countryside. Lost at the end of a small road, we find ourselves immersed in a fairground world . Caravans, trailers, wooden fairground structures that still smell of fresh paint... Many worlds are being built there, others are still scattered in separate pieces.
What is standing already takes us on a journey, what is in pieces makes our imagination run wild.
For 25 years, Pete Bateman has been creating incredible works of art using found and discarded materials. From old shoes and suitcases to weathered caravans and fairground rides, he takes the familiar and everyday and transforms them into the strange and bizarre. Pete's sculptures travel. His vehicles are meant to be inhabited, allowing people to immerse themselves in his unique worlds.
From illustrator to artist who designs festivals within festivals!
Leaning on his work surface, we sit chatting between stands under construction and the skeleton of a fairground ride... It's hard to concentrate on what Pete is telling me. I'm both immersed in his words and distracted, my gaze skipping and traveling from one shelf to another, discovering so many treasures and unusual objects.
In the early 90s, I was working on illustrations. A large part of my work was dedicated to environmental illustrations . At 22, I stopped illustrating, bought a horse and set off on the roads in a horse-drawn caravan. The adventure lasted 15 years.
We lived in a caravan and traveled throughout Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.
My family and I came to France in a caravan . Yes, that's how we came. We arrived in France through Brittany and the roads gradually took us to Charente and Limousin. During these travels, I worked at festivals; we were "travelers" .
I built sculptures with whatever I could find locally. The caravan lifestyle was intense and consumed all our energy. Really traveling with horses was our business. We had very few possessions. I always had a sketchbook, but I didn't really make anything. I had a young family at the time...
One project after another... Settling in France
I ended up working at a recycling yard because I needed a job, I needed to be part of the system in France. And I had a studio there, where I was able to start making sculptures again... They were just for me at first.
In the summer, we would go back to England for two or three months, and I would work at festivals. At one festival, my work got noticed; the organizers really liked what I was making. They gave me a small job building the reception/door of a cafe.
And then the following year, the festival gave me a little more work. I built a big arch and a few other set pieces, and then the following year, they wanted me to do more.
A real mess for creating sets!
There's plenty of space in Pete's workshops and sheds to build and create his worlds. Walking around here means crossing paths with suitcases, travel trunks, pieces of sculpture, bits of rides... A veritable museum where the works of art don't yet know what form they will take.
Everything is structured and organized, we feel that these objects are almost alive, they are just waiting to jump and integrate into a new project. They already have a soul and already tell a story, maybe they will soon be staged by Pete!
His art is truly unique and he has been commissioned to create some amazing projects over the past few years.
A mini theater with around fifty seats
Pete: "This structure we're finishing building right now functions as a small 50-seat theater or as a large bandstand stage; there will be two possible setups depending on the layout.
This project was born from an old French merry-go-round frame for children. We made it meet an old German Victorian bandstand , and all with my personal touch.
There's the artistic aspect, but also the structural engineering to consider. This structure must be easy to assemble and disassemble so it can be transported without the need for a semi-trailer. Safety considerations, both for its assembly and disassembly and for welcoming the public, are also paramount.
The initial design is a commission to play a concert inside the structure. It will be performed at Brighton Fringe. And then the structure will be rented to other festivals. "Bleachers will be installed in a circular pattern inside. We are currently manufacturing them. The whole thing is going to England next week for the creation of the roof tarpaulins.
Can we mainly see your work in England? And in France?
It would be nice, I admit, if my creations were more found in France. Most of my structures are stored in England and I have a lot of work there, which tends to block me from doing things here. I am present at festivals to install/dismantle my projects from April to mid-June and then from mid-July to the end of August, which leaves little time to do things in France.
Caravanserai: a festival within a festival
One of Pete's most incredible projects is Caravanserai , a festival within a festival . Inspired by and originally designed to host Continental Drifts and Cirque Bijou , Caravanserai brings together incredible shows with high wire balancing and death-defying trapeze to create a Fellini wonderland . The stage is a vintage fairground waltz surrounded by retro French caravans that have been cut up and welded together to create intimate chill-outs.
Hoopla stands and shooting galleries transform into bar and café spaces. Footage from circus, carnival, and freak show films is mapped onto the caravan windows. Caravanserai is truly an otherworldly experience.
Caravanserai from Dreamtime Film on Vimeo .
How does a project start? How is it all created? What materials do you use? Where does it come from?
Well, I'm often initially guided by "the material." For example, I find something secondhand that inspires me, and that's probably the starting point. For example, for the mini theater, I started with the frame of a French merry-go-round. Most of the pieces were missing for the structure to exist as it was, but there were enough elements to make the project viable.
So my projects are often object-driven, like this other carousel spinner that's right here waiting. I want to build sculptures that spin on it. You know what I mean? It's kind of often these ideas that come. If I build a small sculpture, it's because I have this really cool piece of metal that gave me an idea.
These days, it's rarer for me to start with a drawing. For the observatory, I started with drawings. It also had to fit on a semi-trailer!
Oberon Observatory: A Timeless and Dilapidated Building
Pete's other projects are just as crazy, like the Oberon Observatory . This imposing and timeless building includes viewing platforms, a rotating observation dome , a hidden cinema , and interactive constellations . Measuring over 14 meters long and 7 meters high , with a capacity of 35 people, the Oberon Observatory is made from reclaimed materials, a shipping container, and a truck trailer. It's an unforgettable experience that transports visitors to another time and place.
All these structures are manufactured in France and then shipped to England?
And yes, you have to think about how everything can fit into semi-trailers. Most structures need to be able to be dismantled to take up as little space as possible. Yeah, to a certain extent, they have to fold! I've made a lot of structures with caravans, so they're just loaded directly into the semi-trailers. I've cut up a lot of caravans into pieces... Well, yeah, it shouldn't stick out when it's transported on the roads either! My latest creation is definitely more practical for traveling. Everything comes apart on the mini theater, and everything is designed for easy assembly/disassembly.
The Vans: Weird, Wobbling, and Three-Decker
Then there are Les Camionettes, a pair of bizarre, wobbly three-story campervans made from two vintage vans, old doors, narrow staircases, and balconies, all connected by a bridge of vintage bicycles. Measuring 10 meters by 6 meters and 6 meters high, with a capacity of 18 people, Les Camionettes were commissioned by Camp Bestival and offer a truly unique experience.
Caravan of Curiosities: A Glimpse into Another World
Another incredible project is Caravan of Curiosities , an 8-meter arch supporting a convoy of traveling wagons that gives visitors a glimpse into another world. Made from a collection of old prams and found objects, it has been exhibited in the UK and France.
Thank you very much Pete for sharing your world with us and thank you also for your invitations to come back and write articles on your next projects.
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