I keep thinking about the Slade MA show. I went on Monday afternoon. It must be about ten years since I was in that building and it’s 12 since I had my MA show there.
A lot of work has taken place on the physical building in those ten years. Nearly every one of the older studios has been sliced in half – horizontally – to create a plague of mezzanines and half floors. A new studio has been built under the UCL quadrangle.
The show was laid out with a significant number of artists showing in several rooms on different floors.
Information about the artists included their exhibitions, work experience and often the price of pieces. Few artists had statements.
I left feeling that I just didn’t ‘get it’.
I guess that I should have asked one of the students about the curation and what it was like to study there now, unfortunately I didn’t leave myself enough time and now I’m left feeling unsatisfied.
I won’t leave it another ten years, perhaps next year’s show will answer some of my questions.
The installation at Clifford Chance went well yesterday. The work was (of course) exactly as it was when it left the studio.
It was great to be able to take time placing the pieces.
I’m really pleased with how they look.
(Need to work out how to take a good picture against that window.)
I think today marks definite progress – call me shallow but there was something very nice about having professional art handlers collect my work this afternoon.
It was my first time. In the past I’ve driven, posted, carried and lugged work to shows. Today it was all very different – a quick phone call this morning, then this afternoon and right on time a man came to the studio and took the two pieces I’ll be installing on Saturday. If the work were simpler to install I wouldn’t have to see it again until the opening. And that, for me, is a really strange thought. It feels good, it feels professional.
For the future I need to think about packing/packaging (– what do you call it?). I’m so used to moving my own work around that I’ve never bothered with crates or boxes. It’s usually the lighter the better, so no wooden crates. However seeing my somewhat delicate work wrapped in some polythene and brown paper made me think …
a) is that sufficient protection?
b) where will the work be held until Saturday?
c) who else will be handing it?
d) is that appropriate packing?
Realisation – I WANT CRATES!
If I want other people to take me (and my work) seriously I need to take myself (and my work) seriously.
If I want other people to value my work I need to value it myself. I need to make sure that it is appropriately protected, especially when it’s out of my hands.
There’s also something about the theatre, the play, of being an artist that I miss out on when I cut corners and don’t really think things through. The logistics are part of the work. Perhaps some of what I used to dismiss as pretentious is in fact one stage of a whole experience. The packaging is important – yes a Tiffany ring is still a Tiffany ring if it’s in a plastic bag or a Tiffany box, but to be honest I’d want it in the box! So I want my work to arrive in the equivalent of the Tiffany box – an appropriate, sturdy, well made crate that starts the process of excitement and engagement (no pun intended!). When my work arrives somewhere ahead of me I want it to make a good impression. My commitment to my work should be apparent. I WANT my commitment to work to be apparent.
I’m at home recovering from a small operation. Yesterday I dropped off my application for the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award. Going over to the east end was a bit much so I’m going to take it very easy today. I’m not very good at ‘resting’.
I’ve got a stack of art magazine that I can catch-up on. Flipping through the latest Frieze (it was last through the door so top of the pile) reminds me that it’s that Venice time again. I can hardly believe that it was two years ago that I was there – so much has happened since then. Can I seriously measure my life in biennales?
Before I went to Venice I thought it would be a one off trip – a treat I could allow myself because of my inclusion in Pilot 3. Now I think that going to Venice, and other biennales, is an essential part of being the kind of artist I want to be. Not only that – it is FUN!
So, what kind of artist do I want to be?
Or perhaps I’m really asking what kind of person do I want to be …
This isn’t the place to go in to that.
In fact I think the kind of person I want to be is the kind of person that simply get on with things rather than analysing everything …
Watched a fascinating programme about a ‘lost' Caravaggio painting – The Secret Life of an Easter Masterpiece (BBC2, 11 April 2009).
-The Betrayal of Christ – I hadn't really thought much about Judas kissing Jesus as the signal for his arrest, perhaps it only struck me this evening because someone asked me why I think people are homophobic. Now that I see the Caravaggio painting I wonder if the sight of seeing a man kissing another man recalls the betrayal of Christ … some kind of deep-seated cultural memory?
I guess that history could have been written to purposely use the kiss as the signifier to (knowingly) encourage a suspicion of one man kissing another man …. I find it all very interesting.
I don't usually watch television – perhaps I should watch more, that programme was very good and very though provoking!
My Swedish sabbatical is starting to become more real – I am speaking to people about rent an apartment. I hope to hear something positive after Easter.
