A couple of weeks after I constructed the oak structure and rowed forth with it in tow onto the lake I am deep in other work and slightly panicking that I am not making the most of the artwork I have just created. There hasn’t even been time really to flop and pat myself on the back as frequently I have also had to visit the site adjusting the listing raft due to some rather inclement weather. This is what happens when using a natural material on a temporary form in a hand built woven fashion. Ha! That’ll teach me.
Last Friday I went back with the only person I could find willing to get into a wet suit on the side of the lake on the understanding that the only way to currently retrieve the anchor is to swim with the eels…she knows no fear.
I have just had another meeting with my mentor Judith Alder who is being incredibly supportive and asking all the right awkward questions. We discussed ‘post making’ administration – these are the issues that are bugging me, how do I make the most of this opportunity. It seems that this is where the business head needs to kick in which is a bit of a mental shift after building up to the momentous creative level of confidence required to make a big piece of work outdoors that actually floats.
We discussed project documentation (film and photography) and the need to take control of the project at every step anticipating gaps where possible and when failing to – storing that information away so I remember next time. There is also the issue that it’s not possible to get it all right all of the time. With my documentation so far I have missed getting interviews with volunteers during the construction phase but this can be fixed by re negotiation with the videographer to record responses to questions that I neglected to think of originally and can introduce at the Resonance event in June. The event involves offering boat trips on the lake to talk about the work along with a workshop to make 3-dimensional forms, a fire pit and BBQ with specially composed sound. The Blue Monkey network are coming as their June event.
Again the issue of going back to the application and what I said I would do is raised like the inevitable anchor I need to reflect and remind myself I am not alone, I am walking alongside my own words in what I set out to achieve in my proposal, this is reassuring.
We discussed evaluation and how useful it is as a two-way process, providing the professional language for the next project base on which to form. This is very exciting to me as it bookends the project with the application itself and provides logical continuity.
