We're behind with marketing, so Kat and I were a bit concerned on Saturday that no one would turn up for a talk by Professor David Crouch on 'The Art of Allotments'. However, the first visitors arrived promptly at midday – from London. A car load from Leamington Spa arrived shortly afterwards and so our worries turned quickly to concerns about the logistics and seating arrangements.
In the end, the talk attracted 35 people – a mix of allotment holders and artists. We collected 22 chairs (donkey easels and stools included) – so it was 'cosy' with standing room only for late arrivals. The event was therefore v informal but the feed-back was fantastic. Lots of food for thought in relation to common ground shared by artists and allotment holders – creativity, shared spaces and property developers have also dentified both groups as soft targets.
The event provided a good rehearsal for the Artquest visit next week. I'm expecting roughly 40 artists so we will use the exhibition space for the presentation instead of the communal area. More seating and a projector have already been organised.
We installed the Allotment show in Long Eaton town hall on Friday. With help from Stella, Phil as well as Isabel from the Council we managed to sort it out relatively quickly (given the constraints of the space which is smaller than Standing Room). Three boards were only designed to hang lightweight works, but luckily three glass cabinets with an array of invisible props enabled us to display heavier 2-D pieces and sculptures. A fourth board gave us the chance to screw other pieces directly into the wall. It will be interesting to see the response from the locals!
I have abstained from most of the paperwork since Christmas… but it's no good it just doesn't go away. However, the volumes are not nearly as great as they were setting up HMS (at the moment) and so it doesn't seem quite so bad.
We have Nick Kaplony of Artquest coming to HMS on Feb 4th at 7:00pm to give a presentation about Artelier to the various studio groups in the area. I think most Nottingham studios will be represented – new and established. Also a few Derbyshire ones which will be interesting as HMS straddles both counties.
My New Year's resolution to resist filling in forms is already broken… it was only a teeny-weeny form and it didn't take an age. Well Jem hasn't divorced me:) I think it's unrealistic to avoid forms – none of us can survive in a bubble. If Standing Room is to survive beyond the summer we will need to secure funding and as Kat has worked hard to raise the profile, it would be a shame to let it go.
Sheila's work came down last week and the space seems v empty. However, it is also v exciting because Tether, a group of Notts Trent graduates arrived yesterday to make their mark in the exhibition area over the next month. It should be quite interesting because we also have Chris Parkes from Airspace responding to Standing Room at the same time.
Tether are storing their stuff in the "cupboard" next to my space. It's about 10m tall and 2m wide and the full length of the building. An amazing space! It bridges two buildings and used to house the drive belt for the lace machines. The original exterior brickwork makes it a unique space. It has great potential for amazing installations and I was pleased when Tether expressed an interest in making work for it.
The Allotment show opened last night and despite so many other events, there was a reasonable turn-out. The feedback was good too, with some interesting comments to consider if we repeat the event in 2008. The show moves to Long Eaton town hall in the New Year so making the work accessible to a wider audience.
Kat has done an amazing job, but it has been an enormous task for one person. She’s had help from a number of people including Lori, Laura, Joss and Stella but it has been Kat who has done the lion’s share. I have tried to do as much as possible but there is always a lot of HMS stuff bubbling away, and we have had some major personal issues to deal with too.
I was talking to an artist on Friday who is collaborating with another professional across the Atlantic. As you can imagine, the costs of meeting are not insignificant. Expecting she had financial support, I enquired who was funding the project. She was. Increasingly I am speaking to artists who can’t face the painful process of filling in the forms and the agonising wait. They prefer to do overtime and pay out of their own pocket.
I am fortunate that HMS is self-sufficient. Though, I am grateful for the financial contribution from the Arts Council and Tina and Sarah gave sound advice, my partner has threatened divorce if I go through the proceedure again. He says the £5000 sum received, divided by the time it took to complete the form – equals the minimum wage plus a bucket load of stress.
