Well, here we are – nearing the end. I’ve just spent what has to be one of the better/more rewarding weeks at university, setting up my degree show in and around the Black Space. It’s been a joy to see so many of my colleagues pulling their own shows together; the buzz about the place has been truly uplifting, on the whole. This is what I went to university for, and I only wish that we’d been able to be hands-on creative 100% of the time – what a difference that would have made …
For me, the week started with me still feeling exhausted – but with a bit of an inner feeling of determination to ‘get things done’. Small problems with limited facilities at the uni did rather delay my plans for the week; there seemed to be a lack of paint to decorate the studios with – especially black paint! However, after a couple of days of sprucing-up the space, moving furniture out of the studios and generally tidying-up, paint became available, artwork was installed and everything began to fall into place.
By Friday, I had painted all of the space allocated to me, hung the art, and installed the water screen. Still a bit of tinkering to do with respect to whether I use a laptop or a DVD player to show the film, which I hope to resolve tomorrow (sunday) with some tests at home. The water screen has been set on a timer switch that will come on every half an hour on the degree show opening evening, and every hour during the degree show. It runs for a minute each time, after which it leaves behind a quite beautiful pattern of water globules which play with the projected images.
I introduced the timer at first purely because I thought that running the water screen 100% of the time would be noisy, difficult to project clear images onto, and have a greater potential for leakage. As it transpired, the resulting ‘downtimes’ make for a quite effective change to the few minutes of pumped water.
I’m quite happy with my display, although (as ever) I would’ve liked a ‘bigger page’ to work on; not much bigger – but just a little bit, such that my original ideas fit together in less crowded harmony. Moving the shelves into the black space, rather than outside it, has worked – it adds to the atmosphere. The overall feel is probably slightly odd/creepy/other worldly – which is bang on, so I’m chuffed with that.
If I could change anything (apart from the space), it would be to have made sure that I didn;t have so many problems in sourcing parts for the screen, which delayed my tests to rather too close to the time it was needed. The silicone sealant, supposedly quick-drying and waterproof took ages to dry, and remained white as opposed to translucent until just a few days ago – hence I’ve added loads of heavy duty duck tape to reinforce things, plus a couple of bowls under the legs to capture what little splash/drip that there will be in the 8 minutes a day that it’ll run for.
Maybe, if I’d thought about it more thoroughly, I’d have gone for static wall art instead, which was more my thing prior to attending university – but I suppose this way I’m showing a new side to my art that has become part of my ‘toolbag’ largely as a result of being at UCS. The film and installation opportunities have been crucial to me, and I wish I’d had more time to explore them. I hope that UCS continues to keep the installation spaces it has – and that next year, the Fine Art department keeps the White Space, rather than allowing it to be used by another department (as it has this year). Such things can make or break us.
Here’s to a good last day of prep before the marking begins on Monday! Phew!
