I've been a busy boy this week, hence no posts until now.
Originally signed up for the curation team my original suspicions that I would have to muck in a lot more for the set up to run smoothly came true so on Monday myself and the other people on the same train of thought as myself set up with the preparation.
The core team for setting up has been myself, Jaclyne, Becky and my partner in shelf building crime Andrew.
Splitting up into two groups, the girls for curation and consultation and myself and Andrew for construction and installation proved, whilst not ideal, to be a good match.
So Monday was spent selecting the work and generally tidying away the studio spaces whilst we waited for the timber for the shelves to be delivered.
Layout plan's were drawn up and with the help of others the works were categorized into appropriate sections and photographed for record.
On Tuesday Andrew and I with the help of the ever helpful Roger Berry in woodwork, set about cutting the materials for the shelves which are as follows:
Wooden Posts with a groove cut in using a special router, which the work would sit into.
Baton's made up of the same material to affix said post to the wall and last but by no means least a choice of two surfaces of which the work would lay upon - Bright Orange perspex and a more sedate wooden ply which with the help of a few first years wood be transformed by a lick of linseed oil to bring out the grain.
On Wednesday things really kicked into gear with the most help we had had all week thanks to the 1st and 2nd years, we made the most of this and got the majority of the general manual work out of the way - painting, more shelving, cleaning and tidying.
My only time off this week being Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday, and even that wasn't for a rest as weeks spent planning the colleges first 'Pop-Up Shop' with Bridget March and Gina Yates of Artsmix* finally went into action and left myself in charge of deciding the look of the shop and it's layout and overseeing the vendors down at the foyer of Vernon Street and solving their problems throughout the day.
http://www.leeds-art.ac.uk/home/news-events/news/article/leeds-college-of-art-pop-up-shop/
My work was even selected for the raffle prize, so even if none of the work sells which I feel may happen but I'm nonetheless happy to be a part of this experience anyway, has guaranteed me some pocket money.
The core team for setting up has been myself, Jaclyne, Becky and my partner in shelf building crime Andrew.
Splitting up into two groups, the girls for curation and consultation and myself and Andrew for construction and installation proved, whilst not ideal, to be a good match.
So Monday was spent selecting the work and generally tidying away the studio spaces whilst we waited for the timber for the shelves to be delivered.
Layout plan's were drawn up and with the help of others the works were categorized into appropriate sections and photographed for record.
On Tuesday Andrew and I with the help of the ever helpful Roger Berry in woodwork, set about cutting the materials for the shelves which are as follows:
Wooden Posts with a groove cut in using a special router, which the work would sit into.
Baton's made up of the same material to affix said post to the wall and last but by no means least a choice of two surfaces of which the work would lay upon - Bright Orange perspex and a more sedate wooden ply which with the help of a few first years wood be transformed by a lick of linseed oil to bring out the grain.
On Wednesday things really kicked into gear with the most help we had had all week thanks to the 1st and 2nd years, we made the most of this and got the majority of the general manual work out of the way - painting, more shelving, cleaning and tidying.
My only time off this week being Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday, and even that wasn't for a rest as weeks spent planning the colleges first 'Pop-Up Shop' with Bridget March and Gina Yates of Artsmix* finally went into action and left myself in charge of deciding the look of the shop and it's layout and overseeing the vendors down at the foyer of Vernon Street and solving their problems throughout the day.
http://www.leeds-art.ac.uk/home/news-events/news/article/leeds-college-of-art-pop-up-shop/
Whilst on the face of it two very different enterprises, the similarities of set up and in particular my job's in both ventures became quite apparent.
Having to give a lot more time than I expected to both projects has left me immensely tired but satisfied that a good job has been done
In my free time setting up the Pop-Up I kept popping back up to Blenheim to check out on progress and muck in when I could
my work is finally up
By this time the A4 show was coming together we needed people to know when it would be on, so Jaclyne roped in our good friend and Graphic Designer Liam Hine to help her create the posters which later in the week would be screen printed by Liam and Jaclyne and distributed both around the college and outside.
Below is the designs for the poster which I am really pleased with and feel Liam did a great job with, especially considering the limited time he had to create them.
So for all your Graphic Design needs do check out his website:
At this point, with all the shelving nearly up I was able to put up my own work which with all the screws in place and the back plate made was ready to be drilled into place.
As with Basil Fawlty and 'the war' the rest of the team insisted on winding me up with the oft repeated question "are you putting a light in it".
This was an idea that as previously mentioned did come up in the design of the piece but I felt at that point I'd much prefer it if there wasn't a light as it would detract from the image.
This again reared it's head when the piece was made and after consultation with Roger Berry the idea of installing a halogen light (the only viable method due to the high strength needed) was ruled out due to the heat this would kick out and the risk it would put on the acetate imagery.
The light question was again asked when a spare strip light cam available but on testing the strength was no way near as bright as it would of had been and this it finally appeared concluded the argument and my piece was left alone to my great pleasure.
The main lesson I learnt early on is that problems will arise regardless how organised you think you are and the best way t deal with them is by just remaining active no matter what job is needed wether it be shelving, curating or as I found out half an hour before the preview opening - name label making.
Saturday was spent painting the studio floors, which actually took less time than expected and as we found on Monday morning was worth the extra effort as they looked great and really smartened up the show.
Saturday was spent painting the studio floors, which actually took less time than expected and as we found on Monday morning was worth the extra effort as they looked great and really smartened up the show.
By this point I was ready for an epic lazy Sunday...
