The traces of ‘Traces of Shanghai’ – Metal International Residency Award 2012

My online exhibition is ready! I’ve been beavering away the past two days, working on creating an online gallery that profiles the work I have made and the ideas that I have developed. I’ve just uploaded it here:

http://www.claireweetman.co.uk/shanghaigallery.htm…

It’s been a really good way to round off the residency, as it has got all of my ideas in order, I’ve been able to write about each piece of work, and it has pushed me to create something of a standard that I can share. Not everything on there is ready for an exhibition – there’s two ideas that are going to be quite big projects and will take quite a lot of time spent in front of the computer screen. However, I think that having all of my ideas and works in this one place will be a good way of getting the work I have done to a wider audience.

I should find out later if there is an exhibition space at the university, but I only have the rest of today and tomorrow, so I’m not too bothered if that doesn’t come off. I’m going to put some energies into distributing the catalogues by post to galleries in Shanghai and will promote the online exhibition to them via email too.

I went away yesterday and got on with some work – although it wasn’t the work I intended to do. I decided that rather than write off the staircase videos, that I should actually watch what I had collected.

Some of the videos had potential, so I sorted through them and started playing with them with my editing software. It’s a bit of a learning curve, as I’m not fully versed in the software, so I just keep clicking things, and finding out what different buttons do, whilst trying to remember how I have seen others who have edited films for me use the software before.

It’s been quite useful to have a play with the films, and although I’m nowhere near how I would want them to look, I now understand a little bit more about how I can make them work. The whole rendering process does get to me a bit – I keep making a change, and then have to wait while it renders to be able to see it. It probably doesn’t help that I’m working with lots of short videos at once.

Hopefully, the first draft edit appears below, I’m trying photobucket to share this video as my youtube uploader (aka my husband in the uk) is just about to catch a plane to Shanghai. (and I can’t access you tube or vimeo here).

Edit
turns out that I can’t embed the film here, so you’ll have to go and see it there: http://s785.beta.photobucket.com/user/claireweetman/media/verticaledit.mp4.html

I’ve got less than 5 whole days left, and whilst it feels like a long time since leaving home, it still feels like a very short time here. I’ve just spoken to Lingmin, the Professor of International Development at Shanghai University, who is my contact here, and there’s a possibility that I could have a small exhibition at the Fine Art school, but she needs to check the gallery availability. I had already reckoned that I am going to try and create an online exhibition of work that I have made here and promote that – so whatever the outcome on the physical space, I’ll make use of the virtual online space too (something I’ve learned from my work with POST and our exchange in Istanbul)

So, if I’m going to have a show at the end of the week (online or otherwise) I need a plan. I’m finding it useful to just write my plans down in here, it sort of stops my brain whirring and whizzing about with all the ideas that I’ve had. So, an exhibition plan:

Things I have that I can exhibit:

– Arrow drawings, pen on paper, x4, approximately A2 sized. Could be pinned to the wall. Also could show online.

-Arrow collages. Cut photographs, pins, boards. x4, approx A5 sized. Would need lighting to create the neccessary shadows. Could show online.

-Catalogues of previous work produced to coincide with this residency. A5, approx 50 from a limited edition of 100. Could have prints of artwork from the files displayed too. Could show online.

-Watermark video. Would be great to try this out as a four channel installation. either 4x projections on 4 walls, or on four screens. Positioned N/E/S/W as the compass.

-Trading Station newspapers. I have copies of the latest Trading Station newspaper produced by POST. Earlier editions have been exhibited in Curve Gallery in Liverpool and Newcastle Australia.

Things that are in development that I’m not sure if I would show:

-Arrows interactive idea. Could create a proposal drawing for this. Maybe a short animation that profiles the idea. Probably too much work for the time I have left.

-I’m going to the studio later to play with a brush, water and a calligraphy mat. The mat allows you to just use water to draw. I’ve got an idea that I’d like to use it to make an animation work. Maybe as a development process towards the moving interactive arrows.

-I have lots of footage of escalators and staircases. I’d like to edit them together, but I don’t think it’s going to work, and I’m not sure there’s the time.

Anyway, as I keep complaining about not enough time, I’d best go and make work!

I’ve made another cut-out arrow assembly – this one using the arrows catalogued as ‘Up/ahead/straight on’. I tried using some of the more colourful arrows, but I’m afraid that I defaulted to the simple plain silhouettes of black and white ones. I just really struggle with using colour.

I also went to the Media Lab at Shanghai University to meet the professors and lecturers there to talk through an idea I’ve got. We discussed projectors, cameras, interactivity, flash and processing. I’m going to turn my collection of arrows into vector files, and the team there are going to pass on some ideas about how I might go about realising the work. It won’t get made while I’m here, but hopefully will formulate a proposal that I can action in the future.

Today has been spent exploring a little more – a temple, markets and Luxun Park in search of calligraphers. Then off to an exhibition opening, where once again I learned how small the art world is as people I’ve met are connected to others who I know.

Another 2 half days, and I’m producing more things. Feel as though by making things that I’ve been able to ‘tick’ things off that were buzzing around my head and respond to them a bit mroe rationally.

Yesterday morning was a cutting out morning, and this morning I’ve been sorting through and pinning the cut out arrows to a board. I’ve had a small play with lighting it too, and am quite excited by the result.

This afternoon I’m off to meet the lecturers at the university’s media lab to discuss how I might go about making an interactive animation to project onto the floor.

As an aside, and just incase it’s useful to you all, a Body Shop foot smoother makes a useful art making tool (sanding down the edges of a board and hammering in pins in case you were wondering.) And a mobile phone flashlight propped up with a small jar of honey stands in for a spotlight. ‘Right tool for the job’ eh?