Project Me

What to say … how to make sense of yesterday … it was one of those days when everything just flowed … one of those days where I was just doing what I was doing and enjoying it. Now that I sit here and reflect on it though it seems too good … too easy to be true.

After getting up early, a short run, and packing my things (my stay at the KRO apartment is split by a few night with my good friend P – some nights at the apartment were already booked when the fair dates were announced,) I met two of the Juxtapose Art Fair directors for (in my case a second) breakfast at a very nice cafe in the very trendy part of town. We chatted away for more than an hour over different and very tasty selections for the various modern plays on egg on toast. Pam and I have spoken twice online, and it was the first time I that I met Cecilie – they are of course lovely, friendly, professional, intelligent, and confident. We spoke seriously about some things … laughed and joked about others … and shared musings and wonderings about things that we were still processing. Walking back to the apartment to pick up my suitcase I couldn’t help but ask myself how I had ended up speaking with directors of an international art fair as if it was the most natural thing in the world … but then I do do it regularly – every year … throughout every year – with the directors of Supermarket. This is one of the worlds in which I work … I still can’t quite believe it … I would like to get better at acknowledging it … without becoming arrogant or having an over-inflated ego.

The fair’s Forum Day is always good fun … and this year I not only took part in the speed-networking but I remembered to say that I am a practicing artist. I met such interesting people – some of whom I already know in other contexts … a pleasant sense of familiarity, some who I could easily see future connections with, some who are doing fantastic things though far from my sphere of activity and interest.

After coffee we broke into smaller groups for more focussed discussions in response to Supermarket’s very own fortune cookies. It was a surprisingly effective way to get people thinking and speaking about their ambitions, concerns, dreams, and hopes for the future. One of the notes I made, for myself, it reads: the process is political. Of course it’s a riff on ’the personal is political’ … the idea is not new but in that moment yesterday afternoon those four words captured something that I want to explore further and something that I want always to keep in mind … it’s not quite a mantra but it might well have to sit alongside ’It’s to do with art’ on the studio wall.

Getting an introduction to the booth of one of the exhibitors in the fortune cookie group inspired me to imagine a possible project for the artists’ club – a project that I might get funding to run, and which could add a new way of working … a new relevance … a new energy to the club. Bcademie run a mentoring programme for new graduates, there’s no art-school in Uppsala so there are no new graduates however there are young artists who want to go to art school and there is a club full of professional artists who could over the course of a year mentor them. A structure would have to be worked out but the model that Bcademie have developed is a very interesting starting point. It certainly something that I want to think further about and speak to Eiera at the county council about.

Catching up with former Supermarket team members at the opening party was lovely – they really are such a great group of people and I am very pleased to have become part of it. I think that I needed to be reminded that I already have so many connections to an amazing group of colleagues working in various strands of the Swedish art scene … colleagues and connections that I should take better care of and value more highly.

Sitting up late at P’s chatting about my impressions from the day he was good to ask what personal projects I was going to be working on during my sabbatical. Even if I couldn’t he could see my enthusiasm for developing new programmes for the artists’ club and the studio association as potentially sabotaging my sabbatical. I am very grateful for the clarity of his direct question.

I spent a great deal of yesterday hanging out in the exhibitors lounge yesterday, I spoke with some exhibitors who I know and some of those who will be moderating meetings … most of my time I spent with other staff – Alice and I drove to the northern outskirts of the city to pick up new banners from a ’logistics park’. We chatted the two hours we were in the car … I don’t think that in the eight or nine year that we’ve worked together we have ever spent so much time together and talked so personally as friends – it was really nice. Late afternoon into evening John and I chatted while he kept the coffee and beer flowing. We are much more familiar with each other having had time to hang out over the years when both of us had roles where our work was done in advance of the actual fair – website design on John’s part, and proofreading on mine. And then of course we had our early mornings together in the kitchen the week that John was visiting the Riga residency. I am really enjoying the deepening of my friendships with both Alice and John.

John pointed out that one of the meeting moderators is the partner of his best friend in Estonia – who was also a guest workshop leader in Riga … I thought that her name sounded familiar and now I know why.

In chatting with the team from Eulengasse they casually mentioned the artists and arts organisations that they would like to introduce me to “when [I] am in Frankfurt” … it would be great to visit them … they are one of the groups who I want to ask about the possibility of working/showing with. It’s very nice that Kött Inspektionen from Uppsala are exhibiting this year, and of course I have been chatting with them. It’s always a delight to catch-up with Niamh and everyone from Ormston House, and this year Alannah Robins’ Interface, also from Ireland, has a booth – sometimes she attends the Meetings Expanded networking programme. Kristjan, who was also on the Riga residency, is here with his King og Bong project (Iceland). I also spoke with the collaborators running the education workshops and moderating three meetings.

This year there seem to be quite a few exhibitors who are doing things in collaboration with each other … or perhaps as I get to know them better the collaborations are becoming more obvious … or it that where the interest, and funding, is? I am really interested in this kind of thing and would like to get collaborations going either through the artists club or the studio in Uppsala. I am a bit concerned that both organisations are a little too large and unwieldy but I don’t have to work with everyone I guess … but does it have to be open call? … perhaps I just pick the other members who I want to work with!

Today is ’Forum Day’ – internal networking – it’s always chaotic and it’s always fun … as John said it used to feel stressful now after five years it doesn’t. More of the meeting moderators arrive today – three of them are on the Meetings Expanded programme – which has caused them more than a little confusion.

I guess my hanging out chatting, answering questions about the programme, directing people to my colleagues responsible for specific areas, helping those colleagues with things that just need to be done, and even making coffee when John was away from the lounge are all part of my work at Supermarket. And it’s work that I really really enjoy.

The Supermarket team is same as last year – with the addition of one of last year’s volunteers. It is so nice to see everyone again, it all feels so familiar. And it great to say hello to the exhibitors that I know. I am getting more used to how Supermarket is behind the scenes – it’s a bit messy but it works! The office is its usual jumble of hastily unpacked irritable printers, orphaned cables, and grubby coffee machines, along with remnants of past fairs’ merchandise and a couple of already cluttered desks … there’s something wonderfully homely about it … it’s an honest and friendly space.

It’s nice to be back in a familiar venue, though this time we don’t have the run of the building and as a result of that the meeting room is a little oddly located at the foot of an unused staircase. I say unused – it’s actually an emergency exit but only when the music venue on the floor above has an event. I might see if I can find some semi opaque fabric for the inside of the glass doors that separate the room from the fair entrance. I was rather anxious about the space … as were several others of my colleagues but we have been re-assured that it’s okay … so that’s where I will be. It was good for me to realise that if any issue arises it’s not something that I have to solve alone … I am part of a team.

I flipped thought the catalogue/magazine – it’s always intriguing to see what graphic magic has been worked on the basic unformatted texts that I proofread. I feel bad that there are some typos in Alice’s editorial … I remember reading it at least once but it could have been one of the texts that was finalised too late for me to manage a second or even third reading … it’s a bit of a blur. Alice is being philosophical about it.

My task for the day is to speak with as many of the meeting moderators as possible. To introduce myself in person after the weeks of email correspondence and to go through some ’housekeeping’ … remind them to ask questions, to encourage discussion, and for everyone to swap contact details.

Inger, the other artist staying the apartment, and I had a lovely conversation over breakfast yesterday … she’s not here for Supermarket and will head home (north) before the fair opens. It is hard … and perhaps even unnecessary … for me to stop thinking about how much better and more enjoyable my life is going to be when I am spending my time with artists rather than dealing with local council bureaucracy.

John asked how the rest of the Black Hole, Riga residency worked out – he was the first of three visiting workshop leaders – I was delighted to be able to tell him that it really opened things up for me and re-engaged me with trusting my practice. Niamh mentioned speaking with Sorcha and hearing how well we got on with each other on the residency. It was great to bump into Kristian who I follow on Instagram but haven’t had contact with since Riga.

It feels things are definitely moving in the right direction …

Arrived at the KRO (National Artists’ Organisation) apartment yesterday afternoon and was pleased to discover that I am staying in the room with a view. It feels pleasantly familiar to be here again – my third (possibly fourth?) time staying here. KRO also have an apartment in Paris perhaps I should look into staying there sometime during my sabbatical … finances permitting!

The meetings programme has been printed and placed in every exhibitor’s pack. Now I need to send an email to the information coordinator letting here know that I will be coming with the sign-up sheets – from past experience I can’t imagine that there will be a rush to register for meetings but one lives in hope.

First though a short run … inspired by, or remembering, my time in Riga I want to go for a short run each morning. This might be ’compromised’ by a few late nights … and by relocating to a friend’s apartment for the night that I was unable to book this room – logistically inconvenient but a great opportunity to spend time with P!

I am also really looking forward to catching up with the exhibitors who I have gotten to know over the last few years … it feels as though I am starting to build some kind of professional relationship with them … though in writing that I realise that is might well be less true than I imagine – recent experience bears that out! One of the things that I have let slip … not managed to maintain … is a good mailing list for when I have exhibitions … nor do I use Facebook, or even Instagram, for inviting people to openings … it’s a bit different letting them know about what I am doing, and by that I mean posting pictures on Instagram of things that are underway or have even passed … I think that people still appreciate getting an invitation to an event – I know that I do! So that is another thing for my sabbatical year ’to-do’ list: update mailing list, and re-acquaint myself with Facebook.

And of course I am excited to meet the first time exhibitors and to find out about them. As my confidence grows I feel better about speaking with them as peers – which is what they are. It also makes me think that I would like to re-activate Glitter Ball … in some instances it is useful … meaningful … to have an organisation rather then being an individual … and there are some things that I don’t want to simply hand-over to the artists’ club or that aren’t appropriate for the club. Thinking about N’s advice to use my position at the club to get my own projects going … it would be good to have some collaborative Glitter Ball Uppsala Artists’ Club events happening in the future … perhaps the series of talks that I want to organise cold be this kind of collaboration – that is well worth considering.

Early Saturday morning. Despite a busy week and being tired I woke early … I do enjoy feeling as though I have the city … the world … to myself while everyone else slumbers and sleeps. I remember being the first to wake even as a teenager.

Tomorrow I head in Stockholm where I will be until the following Monday. I am excited and nervous about Supermarket – both familiar feelings regarding the fair. The meeting programme was finalised and sent out last weekend – this year exhibitors can both sign-up in advance and at the fair … hopefully this combination satisfies those who like to plan and those who don’t! It’s my third (technically fourth but 2020 doesn’t count) as the meeting coordinator and I am finding my way with it!

I have set myself a task … challenge … goal … for this year’s fair, and that is to be active in promoting myself as an artist. A couple of things have recently happened that made me aware that some people think of me as a organiser/curator/educator rather than a practicing artist. Now that I am familiar with some of the exhibitors I am going to start by asking them about their exhibition/project programming … if that feels comfortable I might even ask some exhibitors that I don’t know! I would really like to find somewhere in another country to show next year … or in the next two years – and Supermarket is an (the!) ideal place to start some discussions.

Unfortunately the funding application for the residencies in Riga was not successful so I won’t be going there this summer. However I have said the I want to speak with Kaspars about other possibilities of being there … perhaps organising my own kind of residency … and I still want to see if there is away of him running a Black Hole residency here – the artists’ clubs funding application was also unsuccessful so there’s no money to that in 2024. Not going to Riga is a disappointment but it does take the pressure off this summer and means that I can visit P in southern Sweden and have a proper break.

Yesterday at the studio I identified the third work that I want to show at Lövstabruk – in the group show this summer. I don’t know why but I got in my mind that I should show three pieces … and now I have them selected – which is a relief. The last piece needs … should be presented in … a glass vitrine/cube so I am going to get in touch with the museum and see if they have something that I can borrow. It feels really good that I know the team there well enough to ask such a question … fingers crossed that they have something. On Thursday I sorted through other older works and materials that I thought might be suitable but nothing spoke to me … and then on Friday as I was doing something else my eyes fell on a small(er) piece that has been standing in the studio since I moved there. Not only has it been in plain sight but it’s been something that I have frequently had to move as it is rather delicate and an awkward … vulnerable … shape. I am very grateful for that moment of clarity … and vision … yesterday – Mr Dandy Blue’s Lepidopterarium will be getting a second showing!

Having too much on is making me pragmatic. It has been interesting to look at which existing works fit with this themed group show … and by ’look’ I mean think through, re-consider, re-configure, and play around with in my mind. Maybe being professional isn’t just about making work but it’s also about making the work work! There are only a handful of pieces that I have made that have been shown more than once … Tender, the patchwork punchbag, and Play, the original video tape installation … and once I sent some previously exhibited pieces to a show in Glasgow – they were chosen (by me) for purely logistic reasons and restraints, and then Sara Rosling selected two older works for the Uplandska Salong last year It makes sense to show existing works in thematic group shows – the different contexts affording or drawing attention to particular aspects that always already existed – extending the thinking around the work … and that is very exciting.