The brief for the work going to Athens, was that it was to be on paper, maximum size A4 and light.
I made sure all of ‘my’ artists adhered to that. Some, unfortunately, thought they were exempt from such strict rules. That annoyed a few of us. Work was to be carried in our cases – mostly in hand luggage, so there was an obvious reason for the size and weight.
I had mainly been working on 3D stuff all year , so I had to go through my sketchbook to find suitable works. Although slightly in ‘work in progress’ stage, I was fairly happy with what I had.
The space we had been given was to be split into 5 ‘Plots’. Each area headed by a different curator. Although, I had been given the list of the other curators – Jackie Berridge , Wendy Williams/Basement Arts, Cynthia Harrision Orr , Sean Williams / Fronteer and Rosalind Davis, I didn’t at the time recognise all the other names.
It was only when the work was unpacked and we were ready to install, I suddenly though – Ah, I know you.
It was quite a tight space to work in , with so many artworks and so many people. Plus , the heat was terrific in the building.
It was interesting to see how different people approached the install. Rosalind spread hers out on the floor of the free space next door ( the artists hadn’t arrived at that point) Working out from there where everything should go.
Cynthia produced a rolled up sheet of paper – the exact size of her space. On it were pencil outlines of all her works. She then proceeded to place screws in the wall at the edges of each work. I really couldn’t figure out what she was doing, until she produced tiny magnets for each work. How amazingly organised is that?
The works selected by Sean Williams and Fronteer were all exact same size postcards. They had numbered each work AND had taken a photo of how it should look. They couldn’t be there for the install but had made it as easy as possible for everyone. Jackie, being a perfectionist, marked out the entire space with tape so that each card fitted perfectly inside.
She also did the same for her own space. Though some of hers was challenging in that most were not on paper so had to be screwed to the wall. Two also had little shelves to sit on. OK, it all looked fantastic when put together, but honestly artists – stick to the brief will you!
Mine, fortunately although all shapes and sizes ( though under A4) were pretty light and could be installed using velcro strips. Apart from Jackie and Cynthia’s all of the other work was installed with the same method.
We were hoping that it would all be done in a couple of hours, but it actually took over 7 because of the problems with certain works.
I learnt a lot from the others that day. I would also make a lot more effort now if anyone is installing my work for me in future.
TBC…
