The past week has flown by – clearing studios, trying to ensure that things required for show setup will be in place (electric sockets functional, scaffolding booked etc etc) and of course veiled threats to the second years who were meant to have vacated the studio spaces by last Friday. Due to the rather large space I have been allocated (which held six second year students in all), the space has been left in a fairly mixed state. Hence, most of today has involved clearing up leftover pieces of work, detritus and mess. The technicians have not reached that studio to reconfigure the walls yet so painting them is out of the question as yet. The sheer scale of the preparatory task is somewhat daunting and I am scouring the corners of my brain for a list of people who may be available, willing, able and ultimately obliging enough to help me at a point where I may be devoid of simple things like reason, humour and rational thought. I'm off to buy my paint and associated DIY gubbins this weekend so will return next week heavily laden and hoping hard that the walls have been removed/built as required so I can forge ahead…. After a fairly sleepless weekend last week, I submitted my Professional Practice portfolio this Tuesday and am relieved to have it beyond my interfering reach now. The urge to rewrite, to change and to modify that pesky critical evaluation verged upon a manic desperation. Perhaps my degree show concerns were being transferred to thewriting required for the portfolio? No matter, tis now gone and in the hands of the tutors marking it. To be honest, despite the stress of the time constraints placed upon preparing the show, I am cautiously excited and looking forward to exhibiting my work. Newcastle University Fine Art Degree Show opens on Friday night and I am looking forward to seeing what my peers there produce – not to mention hoping that nothing there seems too like my own plans!
OK – there is a mounting feeling of panic now. I'm not sleeping properly, my head is full of degree show, degree show,degree show – and doubt. That's never a good bedfellow.Anyway – the biggest worry is the space. Not the physical space any more, that at least has been resolved. I am aware of the where! However, the 'what state' question is as yet unanswered. One of the current second year occupants may not be reliable in terms of scraping a load of plaster off the floor – a considerable load that said student has put on the floor in the first instance. I haven't said much about my degree show installation as yet but there is potentially a lot of magnetic tape involved. My guess is that magnetic tape would love a whack of plaster dust and it would try its best to keep it….. This would ruin the finish on the tape (which is hugely important) and I am concerned that the student in question has become the Scarlet Pimpernel and cannot be contacted to get things in order asap…..DEEP BREATH!!On the plus side, my lead melting and pouring went extremely well. Having spoken to my peers, I am also well aware that panic is not my speciality. We are all practising hard to perfect it it seems…..
3 redundant VCRs and 40lbs of lead = one happy Caryll! Armed with a respirator and a prayer for dry weather, I can feel a melting and pouring session coming on this Monday afternoon. This is the last week of studio occupation before the degree show preparation begins and I want to maximise my time in this end phase of my degree. It is easy to forget how lucky and sheltered one is as a fine art student, having resources, information and usable space to hand. Today I am hugely aware of it. And appreciative that I have had this experience.
Just a couple of pictures really – I'm thoroughly enjoying looking at the work posted on here in the blogs of others so thought I'd join in. I wish I'd signed up and joined in at the beginning of this year but good to be on board now, even if I seem to have crashed the party at a late hour. It's getting late, everyone here is asleep and we're on the verge of tomorrow. Hope someone out there gets some pleasure out of looking too. CJD
Some of my posts appear to have fallen off the edge of the planet – along with several brain cells these past few days…. Although there is still a month til the PV of our show, there is a flurry of activity in and around the studios at present. This activity is mainly centred around the initial preparation of degree spaces (checks made with technicians about space requirements and technical equipment, sweettalking the buildings manager into providing new locks/wall sockets etc and of course threatening the current first/second year students with actual bodily harm if they do not scrape as much plaster, paint and other substance from the studio floor as humanly possible by the time we come to occupy the spaces to prep for our show!). Sadly, the other buzz is one of general confusion relating to the peculiar nature of the 'professional practice' module. The elements of said module are not hugely difficult and any student who has already sought exhibition or other opportunities outwith the university environment is aware of the hoops through which one must jump to secure such things. A thousand word critical evaluation of the work done throughout the final year appears to be the stumbling block – mostly due to conflicting reports about the nature of this beast and the requisite contents. I am looking forward to bottoming this particular piece and getting back to making. I can appreciate the relevance and even the value of such a task but the nebulous directions are maddening at a point where the mind has bigger fish to concentrate upon. Especially when some of the brain cells are missing it seems – did I mention that?!
