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?!
Most of this past week has been spent in a bit of a tailspin but today I feel things may possibly, perhaps and hopefully be coming together…. A useful chat with the Building Manager, the Health and Safety man, the busy but happy to be able to help woodwork technician and the ever wonderful porter dissipated several clouds of doubt about my show space (which became a worry late last week when a new location was suggested for my work after I'd made plans for the first space, tested a technical run etc). The new space is large, will be more of a challenge to prepare and to execute my plans in but will make a positive difference to the visibility and ambition of the work.
Once I have the opportunity to speak to our overworked but hugely accommodating technician about the hardware I need to borrow and the logistics of its positioning in the new space, I may be free to panic simply about the sheer amount of work I have to do once my space is released rather than the unknown quantities relating to the roles of others with the power of veto…… I am not the only one to be feeling uneasy – how strange it is to have the sum total of three years work be dependent upon one final show!
Starting to consider the making side in earnest now – and hoping I have enough time before the assessments begin when preparing such a big space on my own may amount to the task of Sisyphus…. I'm also making applications to exhibit work after the degree show date – another odd feeling to be considering life after such a red letter event. Plate spinning is the way forwards.
www.a-n.co.uk/p/527302/
Being an afterthought is no insult – for surely it is better to be thought of at all than not……
