Well the private view was fun – though not nearly as busy as I thought it would be. We weren't able to ask family or friends – I rather wished I'd smuggled some in but I'm far too law-abiding. Still it was lovely to see everyone's work up and it felt like we had pulled together a really fantastic show. I had a great weekend as several friends came on Saturday and Sunday which really helped to break up the day. Its a very odd thing sitting with your work and explaining it to people – I found myself feeling very distanced from it, as though I was talking about someone else entirely. There have been some quite fraught moments – some people were not only trying to turn the pages of Joan's book but actually tugging the threads to see how it was made ! I really do need to consider the whole area of books and display – how this can be successfully achieved and how to facilitate interaction with them.
Generally the feedback from those seeing the show seemed really positive – people were very interested in the range of work and impressed too by the level of skill on show. I was particularly struck, seeing all the work together, by how much we as a group share – a certain sort of obsession and focus on materials. I wanted to include a couple of pictures of Liz Arkwright's work – she's created what looks like a fantastic coral reef out of all sorts of plastics, bottle tops, dyed cotton wool buds etc. which really seems to me to illustrate that level of obsession and love of materials and colour, but using unexpected media. Its man-made materials creating something growing and organic.
I had an exit tutorial today – a useful discussion about what I'm planning to do next. I can't quite believe its coming to an end – this week is whirling past and then it'll all be over. I have no idea what that's going to feel like. At the moment though I think we are all just beginning to get really nervous about results. Dreading Thursday !
