friday lunchtime and an opportunity to catch my breath after two highly charged weeks. throughout them i’ve received help, support and good vibes from sue ball, the museum of making’s arts and heritage producer. sue acts as a buffer zone to the rest of the project and i need to publicly thank sue for the recent baring with while i work through recent events.
these events are pivotal around the recent co production meeting. i’ve heard full time members of the museum staff talk about their experiences of the challenging (at times) nature of working this way.
for me the challenges are taking time to process and arrive at a means of employing the learning i have made.
the iterative nature of the process we’re involved with means that for each time we take stock of where this project is there are many new questions. these wander into questioning aspects that for me already felt like they had been answered.
in the last week i’ve been through something akin to getting back into the saddle of a horse that threw me off.
this experience even extended to the nature of filming on site at the mill. i’ll not fully divulge what threw me – it’s an internal matter that as an artist on site i am aware of yet still needs to be addressed.
while i’ve been working through various things i’ve also been in lengthy discussions with sue about the nature of the installation in the museum.
the placing of a work in a museum is a new experience and a lot different from the placing in a white cube. there are oh so many considerations and interested parties. what i’m holding onto is that everyone involved wants the best for the work so when ideas about its presentation emerge – outside of where i currently think about the work – i examine the idea and go with the flow by testing and checking in with the idea.
summing it all up. i went into the co pro meeting pretty sure where i was within the realisation of the work. afterwards i felt like the whole thing had been shaken and the less well attached pieces had come adrift. in looking to replace them within the work, there are opportunities to take stock and wonder if there might be another way to do this. it’s tested my resilience. i am beginning now to feel back on it and i look to what i now go onto to do to make the work stronger.
between you and me i’m daunted at the moment of the amount of work it feels like there is to do now. my immediate plan is to test out latest ideas for the core concept of the work and look to once tested, implement them and create a third prototype.
reflecting on the co pro process – i’ve opened myself up to experience and be part of it. in time i hope that wobbles of late make large benefits in the long term. this will be realised as i put the work in in the next couple of months.
i fill my lungs and prepare to make the next step.
