‘Measure twice cut once’ is the slogan our tecnician has had printed on her brand new CFAP t-shirt! All other things not show related have gone out of the window in the past week, and pretty sure that this week will be similar.
We’ve gotten a long way with sorting out our studios and building our spaces. In fact we were on course to have everything built by today! Then the table saw was put out of action…
However, this meant there was time for a burrito break on Saturday, and meant that I could have an afternoon off yesterday, which I spent sleeping after shopping proved to be a bad idea when you are struggling to keep your eyes open!
I thought I’d put up a few images of our progress, its all very excting and terrifying!
We finally have a title for the show:
Context
An apposition
A placing side by side
Artefacts brought together in a group exhibition
A collection of objects in an antechamber to a collection of artworks in a show
A collection of disparate objects in an antechamber connect to disparate artworks in the show, where non-prescriptive links can be drawn
A group of artefacts when considered as a whole creates a more accurate representation of an artist’s practice. An antechamber contextualises a group exhibition; multiple collections combine to create new groupings, allowing for potentially new non-linear interpretations of artworks
yes it’s very very long. The idea stemed from not being able to come up with title and having to find systems to do so. With this title the visitor can make a choice as to when to stop reading. We’re planning to have the title spread outside the studios, where we will have our show, so that it winds around the corridor space.
With my own work I am struggling with the display. Currently I am looking to get the text put on the wall using vinyl lettering. The thing that I need to work out is if I see it as a piece of curatorial style text, or a text piece. Depending on this it will have a very different mode of display.
Currently I am thinking along the lines of curatorial style text as it takes what is already avliable in the gallery. This means that I need to think more about the colour of my text as well as the size and font.
I’ve just had a tutorial so this post could be a little all over the place as I sort my ideas out. This tutorial was with our course leader Matthew Cornford (whose own work as part of Cornford and Cross is really interesting). We discussed whether my ‘rules’ need to be in leaflets. Leaflets are a throw away disposable form that can very easily be dismissed. Not only this but there are a lot of handouts being proposed in the show. This could mean that my leaflets become lost amongst the piles of paper people will collect in the show. The ‘rules’ become less likely to be read, let alone followed and reflected upon in the form of a leaflet.
I therefore need to find a way to elevate these rules from the normal and common to something that forces people to take notice. I have already begun this through writing down the actions and behaviours of people within a gallery space, but I need to take it further. These rules are prescribed by gallery space and so using something in the gallery space to elevate them above the norms could be a good way to force them upon visitors. I am considering several options at the moment, and I am going to brainstorm more ways to elevate these rules. The most prominent idea currently is to put them on to the wall. This would be done in a similar way to the wall text you see so commonly in a gallery. Anyway, I need to think this through a bit more, as I feel it needs something more than just going on the wall.
Elsewhere in degree show planning we have a rough floor plan and regulations for building that keep with our aesthetic. We are going to keep all the construction and structures very bare and open. Containing structures and walls are not going to be painting on the outside and the supporting structures will be left bare. This is to go along with our ideas about the construction of a group show and showing how we have come to each point along the way.
Just a quick update of our progress with the degree show. The title is still unfinished but by next week I hope to be able to let you all know (it’s exciting isn’t it…) In other areas, we now have a more detailed timetable of what needs to be done when, and a rough floor plan. Which means that it’s all really close, and really happening now.
As for my own work, I’m off to London for the day on Monday. I’m going to do some more filming in different galleries in order to try and pinpoint what behaviours are imbedded into us when we look around galleries. This will help me finalise my ‘rules’ for my handbook/guide. I’m still not sure what to call my leaflets. I am also working on the language used in them. I want it to be the same sort of language in the ‘for dummies’ series of books. I’ve started working on icons, such as ‘Rosie Says’ which you can see in my previous blog. This and a ‘Top Tip’ icon shall accompany the text in the leaflets.
Our show finally seems to be coming together. We’ve already had three very productive meetings this week and everything is becoming clearer. Our show relates a lot to the issues of putting together a group show. Particularly a show where each person’s work is so different and there is so little to link them. Our title looks at these difficulties further by not being just one title but several (I shall post it when it is finally finished). We’re tackling the issues of continuity through the use of an antechamber which will contain objects and books relating to our practices. The visitor to the show is then encouraged to create their own links between objects and work and therefore also between the art works.
There has been difficulty in creating a show with a theme than encompasses all of our practices. In previous years the concentration has been on the idea of the show symbolising an end, or a beginning. Two years ago this was done through calculating the groups collective debt, last year through the title ‘departures’. We wanted to avoid the concentrations being on us as students about to graduate. I have said before about the differences of my course with many others and the difficulty in explaining and presenting it to people, particularly as it encourages such different work from people. It is the difficulty of doing this that has made us want to create a show that uses our differences and plays on the hardships of creating a group show from such diverse practices.
