The installation had an element of interactivity - a means for visitors to write their own thoughts down about what they would like to protest. I felt that they needed to be compiled, and provided prominence, and this wee task also helped provide closure for me with this project, and Foundation year as a whole.
What would you like to protest?
It was good to see folks again.
We took down the exhibition yesterday, and started to transform it back into the studio. As per intentions going into the project, I managed to salvage all bar 2 of the bamboo poles, and all the MDF anchors. We did have to use the bandsaw to cut off the anchors for about 2/3 of them though, which was unfortunate, but I’ll figure out a use for them. The banners/wall segments were also salvaged.
One thing that I was very happy about was that people did interact with the exhibit - I had left ink, brushes, pens & paper for people to write down what they would protest, and I received several responses. I’ll collate & collage them, and post them here.
Results for the course were also posted - I got a distinction \o/.
Next: Architecture, RIBA Part 1.
So, I attended the private view for the FE & Grad Shows at UCA Canterbury yesterday.
Amazing.
Foundation alone (ok, I may be biased having just finished Foundation) had many, many awesome pieces of work on display, and Arch, MArch & IAD just blew my mind. By the time I’d gotten around to BA Fine Art & BA Graphics, I was kinda numb.
The exhibitions are open to the public from Saturday 28/05/16 to Friday 10/06/16 (excl. Bank Holiday) between 10:00 and 17:00. If you’re in Canterbury, it is well worth the visit.
It’s done
So, today is the final day.
Things to do - install A/V equipment, fix the banners (I noticed they were beginning to fall down at around 17:00 yesterday), set-up the writing area.
Getting there.
Yesterday we shifted everything out of the space, cleaned it, then I painted it black, and re-painted the surrounding floor. All of the pieces are now in roughly the correct positions, I just need to secure them, and attach the banners. Then I’ll set up the A/V equipment.
All being well, I hope to have the installation constructed by the end of the day. I just need to be careful - there be dragons about.
The walls are almost all painted. The floor is painted. Yesterday we used my space as storage, and today we need to move that stuff out so I can paint the floor black.
So, today is the final day of work. Next week is reserved for clearing & cleaning the studio, and setting up the exhibition space.
Yesterday was spent painting the anchors - which took all day. I am glad that I decided to paint them black. Whilst it certainly is a different aesthetic to leaving them unpainted, I think it is potentially a more useful one. Especially if I can paint the floor space black as well. One thing I will probably need to do first thing though is take a scraper and small brush to the bases to tidy up the join between the bamboo and base.
Wednesday saw the addition of slits to the banners, and the only thing left to do there is get a hole punch and punch some holes in a few of the banners to allow for scrolls.
One of the primary tasks for today will be to bind the 3 remaining books, and attach the banners to the bamboo. I won’t fix them into place just yet though, as I need to be able to rotate the banners into position during set-up next week.
So, I’m currently stuck at Ashford on a train that is waiting for its other half. Thought a blog post would pass the time. It is also raining, heavily.
Today I fixed the bamboo into the anchors, securing them with plaster. I managed to scrape most of the excess off, and I’ll be spending tomorrow cleaning the rest off with sandpaper and a damp cloth, in preparation for painting the anchors - carefully. The other major task to do tomorrow is to cut the slits in the banners for the bamboo.
One problem I’ve been mulling over how to fix is the fact that the MDF anchors are distinctly ugly. I’m currently looking into painting them using black vinyl emulsion to help hide any aesthetic issues.
Another big success this week was constructing the “cabinet”. I’m not sure why I’m still calling it a cabinet, as it lacks doors. It is simply shelving. Regardless, that is finished, and will house the projector, models & books from the project. There were not any major problems during construction - a minor one was encountered when I had to jury-rig a support to ensure that one of the shelves was attached at the correct height. Rather than do any fancy wood joints, I ended up just screwing the MDF boards together. Quick, painless. Then I painted it all white.
Last big thing that happened was that I finally got one of the four books bound - the scrapbook. The original plan was to bind using glue, however that would not be possible due to the lack of available surface area on the leaves, so I turned to bind with string instead. Although I was quite insistent on using pink or purple ribbon, Katie (the tutor) was quite insistent that I didn’t. She did not feel that it was in keeping with the overall aesthetic. I still think that the ribbon provided some much needed colour to the book, and I like colour coding things. We’ll see. In the end we called a truce, and I used white string.