Temporary Diary by Kevin Boniface
Invigilating Duty
After introducing myself to Jenny and Krishna I went and got some take-out coffee and a scale model of a Hawker Hurricane from the model shop downstairs. The man in the shop was very knowledgeable and told me about the pink camouflage used on Spitfires to hide them in the clouds. I thought this was interesting but Georgia says it's not and besides, she already knew.
The first three hours were very quiet. We chatted, drank coffee and I built the aeroplane.
A girl with blue hair came in and initially mistook Milk, Two Sugars piece for a Chapman's original but after reading its accompanying 'statement' giggled for the duration of her visit.
A tall man asked if he could take photos with his big camera, I said it was ok, and he did.
The last couple of hours were much busier. We had a steady stream of visitors and even had to shut up late.
A woman with her young daughter said she really liked Jared's drop-leaf table. She said she really felt for it; the way it had been captured, bound up in string and was being dragged across the floor by the egg (stunt double). "…there's nothing it can do, it can't even open, it must be very humiliating for a table."
Not long after that, a man in black denim and glasses left saying loudly "A ten year old could have done that!"
For the last hour or so we were entertained by a Mr Edwards from Almonbury and his amazing feats of paper folding. He's made 6,000 tiny origami crane birds, each from a third of a bus ticket. He gave the kids a jumping frog made from a lottery ticket – in its own presentation case made from junk mail. I couldn't decide between an eagle and its prey (also from a lottery ticket) or a peacock made from a dollar bill. In the end, despite its £3.50 price tag, I went for the peacock because it can actually fan out its tail.
I showed Mr Edwards my Airfix Hurricane but he didn't seem impressed.
Kevin Boniface, March 2009
