This exhibition was a small exhibition, there were also a lot of changes that happened which in retrospect, I was glad they happened as I think that experiencing issues and problems when curating always help to make the process more educating and interesting.
The first of the changes was the work that Salima was to display. Originally I thought that she was going to display illustrations as she mentioned that she was working on illustrations for the exhibition. When I met her to talk about what she was going to display and to get a more general idea of her work she brought a lot of embroidery pieces which made sense as she is a textile student. However it was also interesting as a lot of her textile pieces are heavily inspired by womanism an the symbol of Womanism, which worked well with the overall theme of the exhibition. Displaying the work wouldn't be an issue as I had already planned to pin her work up with small nails, but when I asked her if she had any preference to how she wanted her work displayed, she mentioned that she would like to have them displayed in embroidery hoops. I agreed that this would look really interesting and different and I did have some spares from my own work. In the end they looked really good in the hoops and just added something different to the exhibition in a way that I can't really explain.
The second change was how Alice's work was to be displayed. Originally I had planned to have her bring in a mannequin and display her trousers in that way so that people could get a sense of what they looked like on a person. However the logistics of bringing the mannequin in was an issue and we agreed that my back up option of hanging them from a hanger on a nail. We had also discussed having a live model and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do that, as this was my first show curating on my own and I wanted to start off small. However after talking with my tutor during my tutorial and talking with Alice and a fellow fine art student (who was also in the show) we arranged for the fine art student, Beth, to wear the trousers briefly and create a small improvised performance. I made sure to do a risk assessment before hand, and it was all made sure to be appropriate for the space and environment. I heavily considered the ethical issues as well as the risks and made decisions that I felt were appropriate and right (having worked as a manager in retail in the past, I am always aware of the potential risks to the public and having to make sure what you're doing is appropriate). Alice did want to Beth to wear nipple tassels but I decided against that due to the where the space was and overall appropriateness. We eventually compromised with a bikini top as it was hot that day and a lot of women were wearing bikini tops and thin tops to keep cool. Again this is all mentioned in the risk assessment.
We took photos of the performance in which Beth had a conversation with a member of the audience in the style of a prostitute as she was inspired by the Red Light District in Amsterdam. Additionally Alice's trousers were inspired by fetishism and the idea of reclaiming our sexuality. This combined with the performance helped to raise awareness of how women like these are still human at the end of the day, and are not objects to be pleasured over. They have feelings and emotions just like the rest of us and it was interesting showing this while wearing something that boasts the empowerment of women and their sexuality. I also decided to display the notes written by Beth and the member of the audience in the window where she was standing, they looked really interesting and I think really helped to pull the show together.
The third change was the look and placement of the sculpture. I was in too minds of whether or not to have a plinth for the small sculpture as I knew there was a ledge in the space and thought it was nice to have it in the window. I also chose the ledge as originally I had planned on having a mannequin and didn't want too much cluttering the small space and not allowing people to walk around easily. But once my original plans had changed I decided to use the plinth. I placed the plinth in the centre but just off the centre so that the trousers could still be seen through the window. The plinth was narrow but tall which worked well as it didn't take away from the sculpture which was a bust of Venus, and allowed it be tall enough so that people could see it without bending down and could walk around it and experience it in full. We also changed the cloth that was originally covering the sculpture as Beth's idea was to have the sculpture covered as to hide the gender - 'you do not know her race, religion, age or facial features. We are all individual but we are all united as woman.' The original cloth didn't fully cover the piece and didn't look right, it just looked placed with no attention to detail. I met up with her and we discussed the sculpture and how we could change the cloth and really make it look like she had imagined. While I was in her studio space I noticed a piece of cloth which was thin and nylon like, and had a strip of lace down the edge. It looked like it was a piece of skirt of some sort. I really liked how it looked and how see through it was, but was still opaque enough to block out certain things.
I took this piece of fabric back to my studio space, played around with it on the sculpture - changing it's placement and thickness by folding it up. After a while I decided it looked a lot better than the last piece of rag and that the next step would be to see it in the space. We walked down to the exhibition space, placed the sculpture on the plinth and placed the new fabric over it. I really liked how it not only draped over the sculpture but also hid part of the plinth so you didn't see where it started. I moved the fabric so the lace part cut across the side of the sculpture so the audience would see parts of the sculpture through the lace but wouldn't be able to see all of it because of how it was hidden. Beth was also happy with it and was impressed how with a simple change of cloth it turned out to look how exactly she planned it to look.
It was interesting to see all the work up together as I realised that there was another common theme to the work. Not only were they all linked in idea with Womanism, but they were also linked in materiality. Each piece had a material element - the embroidery, the trousers and the cloth covering the sculpture. It was also interesting seeing how each of these pieces complimented each other really well even though they come from different disciplines. I think if I was to do this again, I would definitely look into this a lot more.
For the info sheets/press releases, I made a front sheet with the descriptions of each piece written by each artist. I did read through each of them, but each description was well written and I didn't think I needed to re write any of them. I also created a map of the space on the second page and colour coded each work to correspond to their placement on the map so that people would know where each piece was. I did contemplate labels at first, but because of the size of the space and the amount of work I had, I didn't think it was necessary. This was also an idea that I got from the Anteros Show that I took part in earlier in the unit, and I liked how it worked well there.
Overall, I was really happy with how the show turned out, admittedly there are a few things that I need to work on such as marketing which I am working on for my next show. But at the same time, having challenges like I have had throughout this process is good experience for me. I have had positive responses on social media, and the society have seen it and praised it. Although this was a small show, it's a start, and from this I think I have discovered that curation might not be what I want to go into. From doing Instagram posts of photos of the exhibition, to creating videos of the show, I have developed a strong interest in creative marketing. This is something that I will definitely be working towards in the next show SELLOUT, and I will be improving my skills in this area. I also want to improve my admin skills, and possibly my presentation skills further. I have moved out of my comfort zone here by having live models and such, but I think in future I need to push myself more. The main focus of this process was for me to explore curation on my own, and I think that having done this by myself, I appreciate group shows more and more.
The first of the changes was the work that Salima was to display. Originally I thought that she was going to display illustrations as she mentioned that she was working on illustrations for the exhibition. When I met her to talk about what she was going to display and to get a more general idea of her work she brought a lot of embroidery pieces which made sense as she is a textile student. However it was also interesting as a lot of her textile pieces are heavily inspired by womanism an the symbol of Womanism, which worked well with the overall theme of the exhibition. Displaying the work wouldn't be an issue as I had already planned to pin her work up with small nails, but when I asked her if she had any preference to how she wanted her work displayed, she mentioned that she would like to have them displayed in embroidery hoops. I agreed that this would look really interesting and different and I did have some spares from my own work. In the end they looked really good in the hoops and just added something different to the exhibition in a way that I can't really explain.
The second change was how Alice's work was to be displayed. Originally I had planned to have her bring in a mannequin and display her trousers in that way so that people could get a sense of what they looked like on a person. However the logistics of bringing the mannequin in was an issue and we agreed that my back up option of hanging them from a hanger on a nail. We had also discussed having a live model and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do that, as this was my first show curating on my own and I wanted to start off small. However after talking with my tutor during my tutorial and talking with Alice and a fellow fine art student (who was also in the show) we arranged for the fine art student, Beth, to wear the trousers briefly and create a small improvised performance. I made sure to do a risk assessment before hand, and it was all made sure to be appropriate for the space and environment. I heavily considered the ethical issues as well as the risks and made decisions that I felt were appropriate and right (having worked as a manager in retail in the past, I am always aware of the potential risks to the public and having to make sure what you're doing is appropriate). Alice did want to Beth to wear nipple tassels but I decided against that due to the where the space was and overall appropriateness. We eventually compromised with a bikini top as it was hot that day and a lot of women were wearing bikini tops and thin tops to keep cool. Again this is all mentioned in the risk assessment.
We took photos of the performance in which Beth had a conversation with a member of the audience in the style of a prostitute as she was inspired by the Red Light District in Amsterdam. Additionally Alice's trousers were inspired by fetishism and the idea of reclaiming our sexuality. This combined with the performance helped to raise awareness of how women like these are still human at the end of the day, and are not objects to be pleasured over. They have feelings and emotions just like the rest of us and it was interesting showing this while wearing something that boasts the empowerment of women and their sexuality. I also decided to display the notes written by Beth and the member of the audience in the window where she was standing, they looked really interesting and I think really helped to pull the show together.
The third change was the look and placement of the sculpture. I was in too minds of whether or not to have a plinth for the small sculpture as I knew there was a ledge in the space and thought it was nice to have it in the window. I also chose the ledge as originally I had planned on having a mannequin and didn't want too much cluttering the small space and not allowing people to walk around easily. But once my original plans had changed I decided to use the plinth. I placed the plinth in the centre but just off the centre so that the trousers could still be seen through the window. The plinth was narrow but tall which worked well as it didn't take away from the sculpture which was a bust of Venus, and allowed it be tall enough so that people could see it without bending down and could walk around it and experience it in full. We also changed the cloth that was originally covering the sculpture as Beth's idea was to have the sculpture covered as to hide the gender - 'you do not know her race, religion, age or facial features. We are all individual but we are all united as woman.' The original cloth didn't fully cover the piece and didn't look right, it just looked placed with no attention to detail. I met up with her and we discussed the sculpture and how we could change the cloth and really make it look like she had imagined. While I was in her studio space I noticed a piece of cloth which was thin and nylon like, and had a strip of lace down the edge. It looked like it was a piece of skirt of some sort. I really liked how it looked and how see through it was, but was still opaque enough to block out certain things.
I took this piece of fabric back to my studio space, played around with it on the sculpture - changing it's placement and thickness by folding it up. After a while I decided it looked a lot better than the last piece of rag and that the next step would be to see it in the space. We walked down to the exhibition space, placed the sculpture on the plinth and placed the new fabric over it. I really liked how it not only draped over the sculpture but also hid part of the plinth so you didn't see where it started. I moved the fabric so the lace part cut across the side of the sculpture so the audience would see parts of the sculpture through the lace but wouldn't be able to see all of it because of how it was hidden. Beth was also happy with it and was impressed how with a simple change of cloth it turned out to look how exactly she planned it to look.
It was interesting to see all the work up together as I realised that there was another common theme to the work. Not only were they all linked in idea with Womanism, but they were also linked in materiality. Each piece had a material element - the embroidery, the trousers and the cloth covering the sculpture. It was also interesting seeing how each of these pieces complimented each other really well even though they come from different disciplines. I think if I was to do this again, I would definitely look into this a lot more.
For the info sheets/press releases, I made a front sheet with the descriptions of each piece written by each artist. I did read through each of them, but each description was well written and I didn't think I needed to re write any of them. I also created a map of the space on the second page and colour coded each work to correspond to their placement on the map so that people would know where each piece was. I did contemplate labels at first, but because of the size of the space and the amount of work I had, I didn't think it was necessary. This was also an idea that I got from the Anteros Show that I took part in earlier in the unit, and I liked how it worked well there.
Overall, I was really happy with how the show turned out, admittedly there are a few things that I need to work on such as marketing which I am working on for my next show. But at the same time, having challenges like I have had throughout this process is good experience for me. I have had positive responses on social media, and the society have seen it and praised it. Although this was a small show, it's a start, and from this I think I have discovered that curation might not be what I want to go into. From doing Instagram posts of photos of the exhibition, to creating videos of the show, I have developed a strong interest in creative marketing. This is something that I will definitely be working towards in the next show SELLOUT, and I will be improving my skills in this area. I also want to improve my admin skills, and possibly my presentation skills further. I have moved out of my comfort zone here by having live models and such, but I think in future I need to push myself more. The main focus of this process was for me to explore curation on my own, and I think that having done this by myself, I appreciate group shows more and more.
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