Last week was part one of our interim show, Futura Bold, at the Nunnery. I stayed away from the space during the week as I had to finish my work for the following week, and also as I had spent far too much time doing other stuff for the show and it was time for the tech team to work their magic with the curator.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived on Thursday for the private view. It was well attended, but I felt slightly disspointed by the show as a whole. Some of the hanging was a little odd. I’m all for hanging high and low and mixing it up, but I don’t feel as if it woked as some work was eye level and some was slightly awkwardly lower, with some really high, with one piece that wasn’t really big enough to stand on the floor (or small enough) standing on the floor. The rooms were also really light, and that felt quite sterile. The video pieces were all shown on screens rather than projected which many people agreed was a mistake, as that contributed to the light levels of the rooms and with screens, you get ugly brand names to detract from the work. As an experiment, it was worth doing, and the show did look professional, I just felt a little empty. Seeing it again on Saturday was good, as it was easier to see the work without the crowd. On their own, the work seemed strong, but they didn’t gel together too well as a group. I guess that is to be expected with this kind of exhibition.
On Friday, I finished off my large drawing for the second show, my studio space feels empty without it. I then promptly started another large piece as a back up plan piece incase the first drawing didn’t fit with the other work in the show during the installation phase. The second piece is far more minimal than the first. I like to be prepared and have a backup plan whenever possible, even though it gives me more work to do! So on Monday my first drawing was taken to the Nunnery, whilst I carried the second, rolled up, across London on Tuesday.
The installation day was great fun, I do like these kind of things, and seeing a project literally come together. I had a slot between 12pm – 2pm to meet with Julia the curator to decide the hanging of my work. I managed with the help of 4 other people to hang my drawing from the ceiling as I imagined. Ironically, I’m afraid of heights big time, and couldn’t even climb the ladder to the ceiling. I’m very grateful to the others for helping, especially Nathan, Raf and Joss. Julia then suggested something else with my work that we’ve tried out as an experiment, I don’t think it will stay as is (although I hope it does), but it was a bit of a nightmare to install, and once again involved ladders. This show has a totally different feel to last weeks show, so I look forward to seeing it completed on Thursday evening. It has a slightly apocalyptic, especially in the back room where my work is installed. I’m not suggesting that this week will be better than last week, it’s just the second part of a two week experiment. Hope to see you there! http://www.wimbledonma2011.com
I also managed to see the Susan Hiller exhibtion this weekend, I enjoyed it, especially the UFO piece, but I’m nearing the wordcount, so I’ll save that for the next post!
