With the thematic exhibitions as part of BA1b just around the corner this was a timely Drawing Workshop. The brief was simple, take one of the themes for the forthcoming exhibitions, either one you are doing or one you aren't or even a multiple of as many of them as you like. Then create a piece of work, clearly it was never going to be as complete or as thought through as anything we were doing for the actual exhibition but that wasn't the point. It was a means to create something in about an hour and half and then bring it to the space on the top floor corridor and curate everything.
I went back to the studio, after drawing around Jo on a large sheet of paper for her piece and had a think about what to create. I didn't want to use any of my current work but create something new. Looking at my studio space there were a lot of hands, plaster casts, imprints and developed pieces. I also noticed a big roll of tissue paper that had been donated and decided to create a large paper hand, I wasn't sure how it would work or how I was going to make it look hand like.
I didn't want to use any tape or means of fixing, just scrunch, fold and tuck to shape and mould. When it came to the curation I wasn't sure how to actually display it. The whole point of the exercise was not just to chuck up every piece individually but to consider the relationship between each piece, the colours, the size and how 3D works with 2D. It was discussed that we could just leave it as we had left it propped up for the discussion. We also openly discussed whether some items required a plinth or a set of shelves.
After discussing curation as part of this week's lecture and seminar as well as the reading (Andrew Hunt's 'Curator, Curation Curationism' in Art Monthly - October 2015) we did have to consider how important the curator's job is but also how the job of the curator can determine the way a piece of work is read. In some cases it can totally change the reading. Sometimes the artist doesn't see the possibility of how a piece of work can be displayed and therefore viewed by the audience. Or even with our small collective some of the artists were happy for others to hang the work however they felt suitable.
The other issue was the need for editing. Editing of the pieces from one artist or editing from the collective group. The idea to cram everything in, just because it had been created can work against the exhibition as a whole. Less is more.
All these valuable lessons need to be taken forward for the thematic exhibitions. Time is needed. Time to take stock of how things look and time to just take a break and then come back to how things look and change if need be. The biggest lesson is to work together, to discuss, negotiate and compromise where necessary.
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