Exhibition Week 1, 20-24 July 2020
EXHIBITION PAPER The focus of this semester is making art to exhibit, in real or virtual space. The seven lecturers shared their diverse exhibition practices i.e. Simon Morris's site specific, durational and collaborative exhibitions, Lee Jensen's highlights of museums displaying abject art, Rachael Rakena's outdoor installations and collaborations, Catherine Bagnall's quirky performative fantasy costume walking tours and illustrations in books, Raewyn Martyn's use of digital and social media to exhibit a new collaborative project Flat Earthers, Kingsley Baird's site installations around the world and Gabrielle Amodeo's innovative exhibitions showcasing bookmaking. Lots of food for thought.
The all time high of 175 students enrolled on the course is a little intimidating. We need to organise ourselves into groups of 4-5 people to design and manage our group exhibition. This means there will be over 30 exhibitions in Wellington city over a 9 day period. Quite a competition for space.
We have been asked to create a poster to advertise our skills. Below is mine -
At Friday's Art Studio class, Shannon shared his wisdom gleaned during his time working on this paper -
Allow group direction to evolve from the collection of the artworks, e.g. aesthetics thematics, but be malleable and keep it loose to allow diversity
Use lecturers and engage in a robust exchange in the installation and finer details
When hanging take a couple of things out. Most exhibitions have too much stuff
Investigate how you pull together an audience and consider the option of digital exhibitions
Document everything as it will affect your grades.
TEAM AND PLATFORM
I have asked Izzy if I can join her group as we worked on an exhibition last year and she was well organised and a good team co-ordinator.
However, after speaking with Shannon and thinking about it over the weekend I wonder if an online exhibition might circumnavigate issues of competition for space and reduce costs. It would also create an opportunity to reach a global audience that can be strategically targeted. This virtual exhibition space would exist in perpetuality (a distinct advantage for temporary scultpural forms).
The challenge would be how to invigorate a sensory experience of engagement with the artwork in a virtual space. It would require an experienced digital technician to be involved in the team.
Let's see what next week brings?