It’s been a slow 10 days or so.
My cold dragged on forever and although I tried several times to start new work, I couldn’t find the energy to get anywhere with it.
I forced myself to go across to Liverpool to pick up my work from the art fair. A day late, but I noticed I was far from being the only one .
Thankfully my work was small, so I bunged it in the bag I’d brought, without removing the screws from the mirror plates. I’ll probably regret that later.
The next day , my work arrived back from Sluice . Next week, I’ll pick up my work from Convenience Gallery . That’s it then – after exhibiting continuously since January, I’ve got nothing else .
No plans. I’ve not applied for anything .
I do have a workshop at the museum next month though – which reminds me , I still haven’t been paid for the one I did in June. It’s normal to wait 6 weeks, but this is just getting silly . Another thing to add to my list.
So despite feeling like hell last week , I had to do my babysitting duties on Friday …
The week before, we went to the museum to see the story of Bees . I enjoyed it , the 5 year old didn’t. Sigh.
So we headed to The Bluecoat … I like galleries and museums rather than play areas, and I like that distinction . It’s good to show that art can be fun and interesting. The Bluecoat’s exhibition was : Roxy Topia and Paddy Gould: Let Your Ideas Come Back As Children .
Visually , the exhibition looked really good. Bright colours , fun shapes…. Find the weird little figures.
Did it work for children ? No sorry. It was too … clever ? Too … I wouldn’t say intellectual, but it was over the heads of young kids, despite the look and feel of the exhibition ( which was actually designed for families)
Young people are used to going to soft play & they’re used to interactive games so trying to explain that this only has elements of those things … and is actually only meant to be just a visual thing was difficult .
I sometimes wonder if the people who commission these things have children of their own ? Or have they actually worked with children before? Is that not a criteria ? That’s not a criticism of the artists, more so the galleries themselves .
I’ve been to exhibitions in there before, with foam bricks piled high – which children do love to climb and bounce on … BUT , they’ve been placed on a hard stone floor. Honestly – my heart was in my throat .
There’s a dividing line between what looks good and what is safe !!
Please galleries – when you run these commissions , Health and Safety is a priority. ….. whether it works for the actual audience it’s designed for – maybe that’s second on the list.
