Free Range
In July, two weeks after the degree show at Bath Spa, thirty of us are taking part in Free Range, an eight-week series of exhibitions of art and design graduate shows from around the country.
It takes place in The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane in East London, and runs from May 29th to July 16th, with each week dedicated to a different discipline including, among others, photography, fashion, and design.
As part of the organising committee I went along to the venue to check out the space.
It is huge.
So, armed with floor plans and tape measures, we set about sizing it up, measuring every last detail to bring back to the rest of the group – on the basis that you never know if someone will want to make an architectural intervention, or use the window frames for a piece of work.
Meanwhile the curating committee was huddled in the centre of the room, engaged in heavy debate about flow, sight-lines, and whether to use dividing walls between pillars or leave the entire space open.
It’s all very exciting – we get to have a show in London, with all the publicity that comes with taking part in Free Range, and we get an idea of what it’s like to organise such an event.
It’s hard work too; trying to organise committee meetings, fundraising events, transport and more, but ultimately it will all be worthwhile when the work goes up in early July.
We also get the expense of it all. The space alone costs around £7000 for the week. Add to that the costs of transport, opening night booze, catalogue, and the dreaded clean-up, and you can bet on us smashing the 10k mark by the time it’s all over. There are a fair amount of us that are willing to help out, but an equal number that are yet to show willing in that area, and so to anyone planning on taking part in Free Range or something similar, next year, I say get fundraising as early as you can – start during second year if possible, and take suggestions for names from the very beginning (beware, opinion will be divided somewhere between twenty and thirty ways on this one). Oh, and take a deposit of £200 per student that wants to take part. That should keep them interested.
