24 Oct – The opening of Pierre-Yves Brest’s photographs in Dover – a lovely afteroon event consisting of art, chat, and lovely cream teas provided by Mandy.
The sense of undisclosed longing created through being able to view the subject, who in turn is looking into the distance is further enhanced by being somewhat removed from the images, which is a key characteristic of the Box Gallery space, where the viewer can only look in through the glass. This is in contrast to the setting in St.Omer where the viewer could get up close.
The Big Screen, a rather science fiction/Big Brother type screen in Dover town centre, shows Pierre-Yves photographs in a carefully calibrated slide show format. Against the darkening skies the photographs appear luminous and saturated; the subjects wistful and quiet – which is a counterpoint to some of the usual content which is all dynamic movement, colour and sound.
8 Oct. – It has been a strange and strained week. On the one hand still looking back and dealing with the repercussions from St.Omer and feeling a distinct lack of sangfroid – and on the other trying to look forward and plan the Dover exhibition which seems to be looming.
The whole issue of mediation is proving to be quite tricky. I have worked with many exhibitions from an interpretation and mediation angle and now realise being the mediated one is no picnic ! (had once imagined it might be quite thrilling – but now think being long dead is prob the only way !) The difficulties encountered in France, whilst instructive are quite challenging because the expected levels of engagement with the public seem so critical. It is also hard to reconcile my own concerns about making work which resonates with the site and the ideas inherent in Résider/Reside and the concerns of Espace 36 to engage with the public – which they have found difficult because the work is not immediately visible . . . all in all a difficult and sometimes uncomfortable situation.
5th October – next step is the Dover Installation at the Box Gallery. I am looking forward to developing this part of the project and am keen to build the work up through layers of media and imagery. Have now been to Dover 6 times and enjoy the architectural jumble and the rough and ready town planning.
It will also be good to be able to let the work evolve in a confined space with limited access. Am also wondering how I might be able to cram some shipping into the imagery ? it is very odd when you drive into Dover from the M20 and suddenly see huge ferrys lumbering into port and there is a very odd thing that happens to the scale of the ships and the surrounding buildings and landscape – the ferries look huge wherever you are.
7-13 September – the week of installation. Received a very warm welcome from espace 36 team and the first 2 days went quite smooothly. A few changes were made to cope with the amount of light coming into the space. As always, for me, when I arrive at the space with all the installation stuff, things shift and change and some things work fine and some need ajustment – so happily did all I could to make the projection work with the building. There were a tense few days while we worked hard to make original plan work and 5 hours before opening it was still all up in the air ! It wouldn’t work – so went back to the set up we achieved on Tuesday ! The vernissage was great, very well attended and both Pierre-Yves Brest’s photographs and my projection were well received.
Have thought long and hard about the problems encounterd this last week and feel that there were misconceptions on both sides. In situations like this I perhaps have to be more sensitive to other peoples expectations and pay more attention to small details. For all that it has been an exciting and challanging project and one that has been a real pleasure to be part of.
26 August St.Omer – ran a short workshop with some local photographers which entailed walking around the town and photographing the architecture and shadows – all went quite smoothly and particiapansts seemed engaged. Benôit giving a kind of potted history of the town as we went and Evodie taking some great shots.
Rather surprised to be miked up and filmed by France 3 as well as being interviewed by Voixnord ! challenging to say the least with my v. limited vocabulary!
