We had the most hilarious and fascinating session putting out work together on a micro board in groups and considering how it sat together.
This was my favourite collection of images from my group. We used my abstract textural prin as a background to the others but I really felt that this was a collection of four harmonious images. We found links in the aesthetics, the themes and the meanings. It was really interesting.
Jason was in a particularly mischievous mood, he has to stay up very late of the sessions so says that we've probably never experienced him in his 'normal' daytime state! There was a bit of a battle for territory when the other Jason joined which was brilliantly funny. I imagine that this is actually what might happen in some group shows!
Thinking about curating, I went back to my printmaking groups current exhibition. It's called Planet Earth: Our Fragile Home. usually as a group we hang our own shows and do our own labels etc so we make all the decisions, here we were at the mercy of a curator.
There have been several criticisms, mainly about some pieces that should have been more prominently displayed being put in corners. The strange coupling of labels was also not liked and one member actually went and peeled them off and stuck them under each piece. It makes sense where several pieces are grouped but not where they are in a row and then the labels are miles away and it's hard to match them up. There were also a couple of people who had made prints in series and specifically asked for the series to be hung together but they've been separated.
The one bit of hanging that I really didn't like is Winter Westerly with Winter Pool above it (top middle) there's just something weird about having a lake sitting on top of a sky! I thin they would have looked better the other way around. The cabinet of curiosities is wonderful, although easily missed and could possibly have done with a white wall behind it as the contents get a little lost.
The part that looks amazing is our 'Fragile Planet' hung in front of the mirror and our collaborative concertina on a high shelf surrounded by prints.
I wish that I had more work in the mirror gallery as it's such a wonderful space. Most of my work is in the restaurant which is fine, it just doesn't feel as formal and I find it harder to enjoy the work in there as it's always noisy and you can admire it in the same way.
Overall though the curation has been really good for the most part I think. There are a lot of lessons to be learnt from it.