It’s been a while since my last, somewhat, frantic post. The exhibition is down and the adrenaline rush has subsided. I’ve even recovered from the shock of dropping one of my light boxes the night before the opening! More importantly the house is almost tidy again.
I always feel rather embarrassed and apologetic at the number of people who turn out on a cold November day to view my art, but I was particularly pleased that, with its specific focus, this show reached beyond the normal arts audience and attracted local residence. I learnt a good deal more about the area and realised afterwards that these stories should have been recorded; another lesson for next time.
So with only the evaluation report to write the project comes to a close. Yet these things never really end, instead they spark new ideas that flow off in fresh directions and the project is born again in a new form.
Stress levels are rising, as is the pile of lights, wiring and projectors, in what was once the living room. I have reached that familiar point where I now know what I should have done and how I should have done it, if I was just starting the project from scratch!
At the moment nothing I do seems to work quite right. I’m in that panic phase when I don’t want any one to come to the show. But I’ve been here before. Deep breath, hang on, and it will be ok – I think. If I can just find the right bulbs for my small light boxes……..
It’s strange how, as an exhibition gets closer, time speeds up. Somehow I never quite manage to tick off as many things on my daily ‘to do’ list as I hope to. However, a gas company has just started to dig up the road outside my house so this encourages an early exit to the workshop to escape the noise. I always enjoy being there anyway and besides I’m finding it reassuring being back on familiar territory- making objects ready for installation. Ironically I’m busy making road signs not dissimilar to the ones directing traffic and pedestrians round the road works. My signs, however, are intended to shepherd people around our exhibition. This will hopefully lend a flavour to the show of the area we’ve been studying which seems to have an abnormally high density of signs hectoring and cajoling commuters on their daily grind!
Fran and I initially became interested in the West End of Chelmsford as it is an area of flux, undergoing rapid change and redevelopment. Now after visiting the area, and drawing there on and off for almost two month, our focus has shifted. Click onto the map of the area (map) and flip over to the satellite picture, and you’ll see it contains both the railway station, and the bus station, as well as having a high density of car parks. Commuters pass through on their way to work first thing in the morning, then back again at night. The area is a mass of signs directing and corralling them, and adverts hoping to ensnare them as they pass. As a result it is splashed with primary colours.
Huge relief. We’ve just got confirmation that Chelmsford Borough Council is supporting the project with a grant. Management gurus say groups take greater risks than individuals and I suspect that acting alone neither Fran nor myself would have committed to this project without a lot more of the funding and organisation being in place first. As it is we’ve been scrabbling to catch up, and the admin feels to be taking a disproportionate amount of our time. But art shouldn’t be safe and predictable. The frantic pace of the project gives it vigour. It’s great to collaborate again with another artist after a long period working by myself. The excited buzz this generates has been like being back on the foundation course – ideas flying around everywhere – what shall I try next? I feel like a kid in a sweet shop! Today it’s good to be an artist.
