Hey, nearly at the end of a very busy and frantic week. Thank goodness. Major technical issues have been dealt with amazingly by Frank the fabulous technician at Armley Mill. THANK YOU FRANK! The space is looking fantastic and I’ve feeling quite proud. Not off the hook yet though, still some bits to do but all should be ok for opening on Saturday.
This has been a massive learning curve for me (and the Mill too as I’m the first of the artists in the residency programme) I’m think of doing a checklist for others doing residencies…both for institutions and artists. I’ve found that leaving things to the last minute; me…always, combined with others saying that they’ve got stuff, or stuff’ll be done easily, doesn’t work. Don’t take anything at face value and as soon as you can get things done as other stuff always will crop up at the end! Major thing too, to sort out who’s in charge of what and what things are the responsibility is the artist. All this should be in the contract.
This got me wondering the other day about is this what it’s like for a self employed artist? The amount of freedom I’ve had has been fantastic but really strange. Like me having to decide the dates of the show etc. really early on, and naming it when you’re not sure what really is happening, right at the middle of the residency! Also being responsible for things and making sure that they get done, liaising with staff and ultimately making the picture of the show in your head a reality.
Every job is going to be different, with different people, spaces. themes and learning opportunities. Keeps us all on our feet eh? How lucky we are…just a shame that we’re not as valued as we should be and that there’s so many artists and not many jobs!
I’ve included snippets of the animation that I’ve done for the show. They’re from the engineering drawings in the archive and I decided to animate some of the working parts. The full animation, along with the other work, can be seen in the MillSpace throughout December.
