The lasts are laughing at me. My son wants them out of the house – ‘like dead men’s feet’ he said. I have been given the lasts ( along with a number of other artists) from the curator of ‘Made to last’, (the exhibition to be cited in the Cathedral during the Salisbury Festival), to be returned having undergone a spot of clever artistic alchemy. Unfortunately, I am in receipt of my lasts somewhat late in the day (due to e-mail muddles) so I fear other artists have had a head start. In a state of naive optimism concerning my technical skills, I have conjured up the basis of the video piece which, having submitted and confirmed the proposal my husband turned to me and said, ‘you’ve set yourself quite a challenge’. Coming from a techno-God ( in comparison to myself), his comment has rocked me slightly. Still ‘no one will die if it all goes tits up’ he would say comfortingly. I may, in the end, have the ‘last’ laugh is it were – time will tell.
Another thorn in my side at the start of the week has been removed to much relief after a series of e-mails back and forth with tactileBosch in Cardiff, where I’m soon to exhibit with. Crossed wires as to which work was available to exhibit got me a little shaky at first but soon came the e-mail everyone wants to hear, ‘Go for it, we have plenty of space and you have free rein to use it as you like.’ Why can’t all galleries react like this.
And so, with all this work ahead, (not to mention two community-based project plans I need to nail down and the proposal and budget for the Salisbury exhibition to pull together), why am I writing this blog when I have one morning where all the children are busy elsewhere and should be in the studio. Because when you’re overwhelmed and don’t quite know where to start, blogging is quite the very best form of artistic procrastination anyone has ever invented – (better than the pre-Internet days of mindnumbing morning TV that’s for sure).
