The end of the road.

Yesterday afternoon was our group's feedback seminar. Everyone liked how we'd contained the space as it added excitement and made it more secretive which connected to our theme. We were told that the title and clearly conveyed our intentions. The main use of monochrome was noticed and our arrangement of the space seemed to portray a mash-up of thoughts as well as Jenna's work pressurising the viewer into using the space.

Rachael's work got positive feedback. Her intentions seemed to be conveyed clearly to viewer due to the use of statements which everyone seemed to be pleased to see. 

People found the expressions on the women's faces intriguing, stating that the variation made Ali's work realistic. Feeling like they'd gained an insight into the women's lives the viewers saw her work as a representation of having a confidence to talk. Her hanging of her work was praised as it enhanced the written part of the images and stopped it from feeling cluttered.

The mass amount of Jenna's sculptures led to its success, with the thought that one alone would have much less impact. The repetition of her process made the work itself seem like it was constantly improving itself along the length of the plinth. With someone saying the sculptures reminded them of stress balls, I think Jenna's ideas behind her work was well read.

The washing line was a great success. With viewers understanding the idea of 'airing our dirty laundry in public' straight away, and as the piece was probably one of the first sights in the gallery space, I think it really helped make our show successful.

Structure mimics structure in Charlotte's work. I'm really glad we came to the decision to give Charlotte the whole wall space to work with as I think this was appreciated by the viewers too. Her large installation stood, unashamed, portraying a deeply personal topic of her own limitations. With loose threads hanging down, the viewers felt a sense of failure represented by these broken bands. The viewers seemed particularly thankful with Charlotte's piece that it had an artist's statement to really add to the effect of this piece.

The shape of Becky's work interacted well with Charlotte's and people liked how she's extended her work out of the basic paper form and stretched across the wall. Some viewers thought it looked like a map of sorts, showing that people have hidden ventures all over the place. The arrangement was praised as being expressive and free opposed to using a normal way of presenting photographs.

People reacted well to my work. Some saying it felt rather eery in the sense that it was as if the computer had come to life without human interaction. Others thought that the computer seemed to be talking for the girl in the 2d image. Either way I was glad that I'd managed to provoke thoughts of our interactions with computers.

The floor painting was seen as a successful device to draw the viewers into the confession chamber as well as the use of light behind the glass panel of the door. I was astounded by the amount of participation that occurred  and how excited people seemed to get about being able to interact in an active way within an exhibition.

The feedback we got both verbally and written down was really positive, which makes me feel like all the hard work in the last few days particularly has payed off. People actually reacted well to the participation part of the exhibition, with our confession box being pretty full by the end of the exhibition. I'm so glad my bad feeling about it was wrong. The individual artist statements were appreciated as they allowed an look into the artists intention, and the placement on the wall instead of in a hand out was preferred as it allowed the viewer to think for themselves before reading the ideas behind the work. We were told we used the space we had to our advantage in order to get the best effect from the gallery space. People responded that they felt as though the artists had entrusted them which made the experience feel personal. The curtaining off of the space seemed to make the viewers feel much more comfortable leaving their own secrets behind and they left having had an enjoyable and engaging experience. We could've easily done too much to the space and get carried away (which I was afraid we were verging on) but apparently we'd balanced the show well. 

As great as the positive feedback is, I'm just really glad it's over. I think I really underestimated how exhausting this group project would be both physically and mentally. I was lucky enough to have a supportive and hardworking group as well. I have really enjoyed this project though. Not only has it pushed me out of my comfort zone by making me rely on others, but has helped me settle into the course a whole lot better by throwing me into the deep end in a sense. I've loved learning about curatorial devices and I think it's greatly enhanced how I view other exhibitions that I visit as I now understand just how much hard work and thought goes into every little detail.

Now just to design and make a catalogue!

Set Up Time

We've been setting up our exhibition over the last few days. Most of Tuesday was spent patching up the walls and removing some of the last group's work which was a little irritating. We got together as a group and allocated each work's placement in the show. It was nice to see Rachael after her long absence but a bit strange that she had canvases to hand when last I heard she was doing something straight on the wall.

With Becky's work now positioned out of the dark space, we decided to use the door she'd obtained to create the confession booth within that are instead. So while Charlotte, Jenna and Becky tackled putting up the material we'd manage to get over the windows and entrance, me and Ali tried (and managed!) to hang the door. With the group liking my earlier idea of the confession slips I needed to print and guillotine enough for the show. Jenna created a press release and printed enough for hand outs, while Becky and Charlotte replaced my 'Coming Soon' posters with the final design. Me and Jenna had to go and hunt down a plinth for her to present her sculptures on, while Ali decorated the door and floor leading up to it. I felt like we made a lot of snap decisions without really thinking them over, but the momentum in the group seemed to be spurring everyone on to get the exhibition up as soon as possible at least.

I did begin to worry that we were over doing the space a little. With Ali firing off new ideas left, right and centre, I did voice that we didn't want to 'clutter' the space which did seem to pull everyone back in a little. I'm not too convinced with the writing on the floor, as I think it lacks consistency and takes away from the works, but as I couldn't leave little bits unfinished I went with the group's idea.

I helped Rachael hang her flat board canvases on the wall on Tuesday afternoon as she seemed eager to do so and had missed a lot of the planning about hanging height etc. So I was a bit annoyed to see that she didn't come in on Wednesday to help everyone else put their work up but we managed anyway.

We've pegged up some items of clothing on the washing line (deciding to go with mainly black and white to stick with the monochrome feel of the gallery) and put some confessions of our own in the booth in the hope that it'll encourage participation. Sticking up some sticky notes for feedback was a good last minute plan and grabbing a plinth to put the press release and blank confession noted on, the exhibition was looking nearly complete.

Ali printed our artist statements out so that they'd all be consistant which was a good plan. After sticking them up at the same level, we've just done a final sweep and mop ready for the seminar this afternoon. Fingers crossed!

Transition.

A2 presented their exhibition today. Immediately presented with the title, 'Transition', I think the group has set connotations for the exhibition. The group provided a map for the exhibition which stated whose artwork was whose, but had no explanation for each piece. It was also highlighted that the map would've been better if it was more accurat, giving indications of floor usage.

Jenika's work utilised the wall space well in order to gain the best effect. The simplicity of the forms reminded me of interior design as well as a transition between childhood and adulthood due to the use of a child's plaything and presenting it in an adult way.

Laura's paintings were a reflection on the elderly and the youthful. It seemed to be a face-off between the old and the young with the old being reflective and the young being hopeful. Some people thought that the paintings were presented too closely together and were frustrated that they couldn't see the works clearly. I think it was a nice change to have paintings suspended rather than simply flat to the wall and so enabled a lot more contemplation of the artist's intentions.

Similarly to Jenika, Zoe's work used childhood materials in an adult way. The sculptural piece of the hotplate and crayons stole all attention away from the crayon paintings and photographes on the wall.

Once again reflecting on childhood, Lauren looks at the freedom you feel as a child. Her paintings show that, as an adult, you can't reclaim your childhood, with her copied painting of a child's seemingly more controlled. The paintings and the plate could've been presented separately, but I think the message is conveyed well between the two pieces. The broken plate, made as a child, yet another reference to trying, and failing, to reclaim childhood. The black plinth the plate was on may have been better in white in order to not detract from the object itself.

The two pieces presented as a flip side to each other by Benji create ideas of censorship and acceptibility. On one side, looking at censorship gone mad, with artworks of the human form needing to be censored, and the other side showing outrageous comments on the internet going without being censored. Benji's work would have greatly benefitted from an artist statement as his explaination of the comments coming from videos of underage girls doing innocent sports (such as gymnastics) made his work all the more shocking. From a curatorial point of view, it was stated that perhaps his second piece needed a warning sign before entry.

The childlike craft of paper mache to create a 3D portrait represented a child's perspective on an adult world. Amy's work had the unnecessary and detracting addition of a letter from a child to a mother that tried to force the viewers' thoughts.

Harry's two canvas paintings reflected on the childish longing to be an adult and the adult desire to regain their youth. Enhanced by the use of sound, the images became more immersive.

The images of the artists as children and as they are presently felt a bit over done, as the theme of the show had been well presented already. Especially due to the incomplete collection, I don't think the photographs were necessary. 

Final Consultation.

We met with Stephen today for our final consultation on our exhibition plans. He raised the issue of creating a doorway at the entrance to the space. We discussed the possibility of using material as a substitute, perhaps layering it up to make viewers have to push through in order to gain access which I think would work just as well. I thought the door at the entrance would be going over the top by over explaining the title.

We realised that we needed to think of the curation of the show such as how we will hang work, which pieces work best together, how we can use the room to its fullest potential. Stephen raised the possibility of using pieces of work as barriers themselves as wall division seem no longer possible.

We need to make sure we are aware of how the viewer will see our work. How will it be viewed? Will the message be conveyed? Are the works a personal account of the artists, or are they a reflection on society? I think we've changed our minds about the anonymous artwork. After viewing B1's exhibition,  I think it's important to present the works with statements of their own in order make the theme both apparent and to ensure it flows throughout the show.

I feel more confident about my decision to present my video in an installation now. Stephen even mentioned using another piece of my work in the show as well as it would work well with both my own work and Ali's text based piece as well. 

Encouraging viewer interaction is still worrying me. I think we've been neglecting organising things like the confession booth for the last month and now it's going to be a bit of a mad rush to get it sorted in time. We've got a lot of work to get done in a week.

Posters.

I did a few more designs for the posters as Charlotte doesn't seem to have been very well lately. I left the information at 'Coming Soon' as discussed by the group, and we decided that when Charlotte gets back we can use her design for the final poster to replace my 'Coming Soon' ones.

All Together, All Different

B1 opened their group exhibition today. Their theme was introduced as soon as you walked into the gallery space. The crossing out of the unused posters started to show how the gallery space was being used to present the approach the group had decided to take. One thing that was highlighted though was that the posters had been hung over the 'cracks' of the walls which drew the eye away from the work itself. Also, the posters were both portrait and landscape, but were not hung centred to each other which is something I'll keep in mind for our exhibition. The press release was particularly helpful in understanding the intentions of the curators, but it could have been handed out or enlarged with the chosen poster to really stand out from the wall.

Phil's work was heavily framed which I think took away from the photos themselves. His work gave the impression of holding back information due to only providing part of a Facebook page about the demonstration he was discussing in his work. His work appeared as though it was a 'collection' of memories/ ideas/ items from the riots, but he could've taken this even further to create something more striking. Sound from the demonstrations themselves could've been particularly effective.

Loretta's photos were hung well with two horizontal strips seemingly colour coded with reds or blues. Relating to disfiguration they reminded me of images you might see taken from a crime scene. Their was discussion about whether a single large image would've been as effective or more so, but I think the way she presented them already worked well.

The structural yet delicate forms of Precious' work explained the destruction of paper. Suspended in the middle of the gallery space, it was interesting to see paper as a sculpture rather than a flat image attached to the wall. The decision to position it towards the windows worked best with the space in the gallery as it allowed a better view of the whole exhibition upon entry.

Sarah's painting was greatly enhanced by the inclusion of the tools used to create it. From a straw to a dustpan, it felt as if the tools themselves became more important than the work itself. It was interesting to presume that the order that the tools were arranged in related to the chronology of the creation of the painting.

The work that Vanessa presented drew you in towards it, as its canvas form from afar made it seem like a painting. The feminine fabric surfaces contrasted with the harsh lines of sewing that slash across the work. Vanessa and Sarah's pieces work well next to each other due to the colours and the themes of domestication.

The first thing that seems apparent when looking at Kim's work was that it seemed to be far too close to the edge of the wall to fully appreciate it. The light box and other piece could've been presented separately to work best with the space. I think the light box worked better than the other piece as the light really brought her drawings out and created a sense of life from her work. Perhaps the other piece could've been presented over the glass of the window for better use of space and to add to her work?

Shannon's board of magazine covers seemed to tower over the gallery space. Looking at the destruction of perfection, her work reminded me of the billboards you might find in cities, where the constant deleting and overlaying of desires leaves behind a narrative of value. It's a shame that the low ceiling made her work seem cramped as it didn't allow you to step far back from it to fully take it in.

In the dark space of the gallery played a video of all the artists at work on the pieces presented in the gallery. It was a nice end to the exhibition as it presented the pieces in a more personal manner, with faces behind the works. It also brought the theme back into play which seemed to get a little lost throughout the rest of the show. By utilising process as an art form itself it raised the question of it being a documentation or a collaborative piece?

It was interesting to see how the module was attempted by a different group in an entirely different way from our own. From viewing their show, I think it is apparent that there's a lot of small decisions that alter the effectiveness of a show. The lack of artists statements seemed to be one of the most picked on things in this show which I think we'll have to ensure to carry out for our own.