The end of term and a month off to catch up with all of the work i have been holding off for a couple of weeks. Although... i still have a couple of things to do in college next week.
I took down the exhibition this afternoon- rushing in before 2pm so i could say goodbye to Sam before he ventures out to Canada for a couple of months- I actually got to college at 10 past 2 and dropped his Christmas card outside which i then had to find. I 'm the friend that is difficult to deal with, but you don't have the heart to tell them.
Anyway, as i took down the show and moved all of the furniture out of the Opt-in space ready for the MA students over Christmas, somebody turned up to see the show. It was quite upsetting really- due to the lack of people that had come to see the show that she would come in just as i had finished packing up. It was actually the girl from the Saturday school that was interested in performance as well, so i felt doubly bad that she had come after college with a friend and there was nothing to see. We had a beer though and talked about the show. Joe ran to get some footage of my piece of work and i gave her a bit of a tour of the studio to show her what had been in the exhibition. It was really nice that she was interested enough to turn up though- she was very complimentary of the work too.
Showing posts with label Opt in. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opt in. Show all posts
Friday, 10 December 2010
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Monday, 6 December 2010
An Alternative Space: Event- 9th December 2pm
Hey everyone,
As part of the 'An Alternative Space' exhibition being held in the Opt-In Space BG01 from 8th-10th December, SALT are hosting a discussion around the theme of 'alternative spaces' on Thursday 9th December, in the Opt-In Space, starting at 2pm.
The discussion will feature talks from Rosalie Schweiker, who has set up an alternative space called 'the Emely' in order to explore the idea of the need to set up our 'own thing', as a place for her and others to work, and a place to invite people to, who's website you can look at here www.rosalie-schweiker.wikispaces.com/the+Emely , and by Jake Caleb, about the problematic elements involved in setting up alternative spaces that he has encountered through his own practice. There will also be free tea and biscuits, served in cups made by Rosalie Schweiker.
The event is open to anyone, if there are any questions then feel free to email me on h.clayden2@chelsea.arts.ac.uk.
See you there!
Hannah
SALT
As part of the 'An Alternative Space' exhibition being held in the Opt-In Space BG01 from 8th-10th December, SALT are hosting a discussion around the theme of 'alternative spaces' on Thursday 9th December, in the Opt-In Space, starting at 2pm.
The discussion will feature talks from Rosalie Schweiker, who has set up an alternative space called 'the Emely' in order to explore the idea of the need to set up our 'own thing', as a place for her and others to work, and a place to invite people to, who's website you can look at here www.rosalie-schweiker.wikispaces.com/the+Emely , and by Jake Caleb, about the problematic elements involved in setting up alternative spaces that he has encountered through his own practice. There will also be free tea and biscuits, served in cups made by Rosalie Schweiker.
The event is open to anyone, if there are any questions then feel free to email me on h.clayden2@chelsea.arts.ac.uk.
See you there!
Hannah
SALT
Setting Up in an Alternative Space
The end of the first day of set up and we have approximately one piece of work on the wall and one that is in bubble wrap in the middle of the space. The black space however is set up and bits of wall have been spruced with white paint. People don't seem too interested in helping with the curation part and unless everyone is in on Wednesday morning willing to help with the set up i don't see how we can do a group curation. I've also had a couple of late submissions today- but at least they could show me their work, so that's not too disconcerting. It wasn't too bad today- I'm probably over-exaggerating the lack of work that got done because by the end of the day the space did look spick and span. Sam deserves a big pat on the back also- as always he managed to be there on time (Well before me) and helped me out a lot- especially with the harsh task of hanging black-out curtains in the doorways of the black space and working out where to put projections etc (technical advice was very much appreciated). Tomorrow is going to be jam packed- despite the set up dates being today and Wednesday- a couple of the part-time students can only bring in their work to me tomorrow so i will have to pop into college, as well as travelling to Essex for my sisters 11th birthday and then back into London again to do a last minute Christmas shop for Wednesday (Another wartime tradition). A lot is now relying on everything going well and to plan on Wednesday, yet as much as I've planned i still don't trust myself to have remembered everything.
Exhibition Poster completed by myself today (Not my usual style, but i thought i should make the poster simple and illustrative):
Exhibition Poster completed by myself today (Not my usual style, but i thought i should make the poster simple and illustrative):
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Opt-In space Exhibition: An Alternative Space
We have spoken about having exhibitions in the opt-in space for a long time now, but they have never actually amounted to anything- there are often groups that members of the studio prepare, but nothing that is collaborative between students. This is what i am hoping for with this exhibition and i have had a lot of good press about organising an exhibition. The date of the private view is actually next Wednesday and we had a meeting today (after several previous discussions in the opt-in space) about a couple of finalisation's. The space is going to be kept as a studio during the exhibition, so it will be more like an open studio event- the group thought that this was the main ethos of the space and wanted the exhibition in keeping with the work that happened here. Also we decided to keep the name 'An alternative space' for the exhibition as it can relate to any of the work submitted, because we do all work in an alternative space. The process now is becoming quite exciting as there are a lot of works that are beginning to be submitted- Salt are planning to have a whole day event on the Thursday and I'm planning to do my 'The recession will be over by Christmas' performance in the opt-in space on the Wednesday, hopefully I'll also be able to set up the black space into a screening room. The only thing that is worrying me at the moment is that quite a few people have said that they would like to be involved but haven't actually shown me images of or even told me dimensions of what their work is. I feel a bit of a free for all coming on for next week when we start to set up. We are planing to meet again next week on Monday to spend the day curating, tidying the space and hanging first pieces of work, apparently one of the students has a sculpture that is 2m tall- I'm now thinking of possible places this could be placed- there's not many, but it could really create an interesting dynamic within the open studio space (Initial curaton ideas below).
My piece of work for the show is lacking a little at the moment i feel so I'm going to have to finalise some ideas over the weekend about how i want to stage the dinner.
My piece of work for the show is lacking a little at the moment i feel so I'm going to have to finalise some ideas over the weekend about how i want to stage the dinner.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Catalogue out!
Nick finally got the catalogue out to the printers yesterday and fabulously managed to half the price of the batch with a one day turn around. I don't know how he does it- but i was very impressed. The catalogue is also being sent to him at work so i don't have to worry about collecting them. Again fingers crossed that they will all be delivered in time for the PV on Wednesday! Another thing i managed to get done today for Hitachi was the finalised guest list- that is all back and sorted. So we are on course for a fabulous night.
It was our first tour of the college today after our training last week, unfortunately it was a group of potential design students, so i don't think i answered their questions too well on the tours but the presentation in the lecture theatre went quite well beforehand. I'm off to another studio meeting now, to discuss the plans for tearing the walls down...
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| The Map from the central page of the catalogue (It is better quality than this) |
It was our first tour of the college today after our training last week, unfortunately it was a group of potential design students, so i don't think i answered their questions too well on the tours but the presentation in the lecture theatre went quite well beforehand. I'm off to another studio meeting now, to discuss the plans for tearing the walls down...
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Thesis and Opt-in
I handed in my thesis today- a day early. You might think that i am quite proud of what i have written- this is not the case at all- I'm only handing it in early because i have to be somewhere at 8am tomorrow morning until the contact desk closes. I managed to do about 1,300 of the 2,000 that we were supposed to hand in and it's not very polished. I'm regretting not doing enough reading over the summer. My thesis is about funding in the arts and government hospitality with this funding which I'm finding out now is a very complex subject and i don't even know where to start. Hopefully i will have a brain wave over the next couple of weeks and know exactly what i am doing.
Anyway, we had our studio induction meeting yesterday and most of the ideas discussed last week were taken well. It was difficult as expected- none of the 1st year students seemed to know what was going on and they just seemed to stare at the 2nd years presenting ideas- I'm still unsure if they had any input into what we had decided by the end. I was disheartened by the end of the meeting as to whether or not i wanted to stay in the opt in space, which is a shame because i have put so much time into it in the past year. I felt as if some very brash decisions were made at the end of the day that hadn't been discussed up until that point. The blue room has gone- which was part of the space last year- basically it was a space that belonged to the whole course, but attached to the opt-in space. A bit like a common room. My upset at this decision was that out of all of the space we had in the opt-in- this is the bit that i used. Not the bit that i used most, but the part that i used- full stop. I also got a very patronising response from another member of the space when i explained that i needed that space for meetings, and it is difficult to have meetings in a studio- "Were not going to stop you from inviting your friends in"- I don't think my point was understood at all.
Anyway, we had our studio induction meeting yesterday and most of the ideas discussed last week were taken well. It was difficult as expected- none of the 1st year students seemed to know what was going on and they just seemed to stare at the 2nd years presenting ideas- I'm still unsure if they had any input into what we had decided by the end. I was disheartened by the end of the meeting as to whether or not i wanted to stay in the opt in space, which is a shame because i have put so much time into it in the past year. I felt as if some very brash decisions were made at the end of the day that hadn't been discussed up until that point. The blue room has gone- which was part of the space last year- basically it was a space that belonged to the whole course, but attached to the opt-in space. A bit like a common room. My upset at this decision was that out of all of the space we had in the opt-in- this is the bit that i used. Not the bit that i used most, but the part that i used- full stop. I also got a very patronising response from another member of the space when i explained that i needed that space for meetings, and it is difficult to have meetings in a studio- "Were not going to stop you from inviting your friends in"- I don't think my point was understood at all.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Setting up studio
As i presumed in my last blog- this week has been busy and draining. Tuesday was at college in the morning, enrollment started at 9.30am- but that's when myself and Anika got the train, to save the expense of the peak ticket. You forget how many people you know and like at college- until you all go so a scary shouty cafe in Pimlico and try to fit around one table... only to be shouted at not to sit at the table until you have ordered. This is the way of the shouty cafe 'TWO EGGS AND CHIPS!' That Tuesday evening i had to rush home for the Guides (This commuting is giving me a headache- we better find somewhere to live soon!)- Word had spread that i wasn't back at Uni yet, this week I covered the guides- last week i was covering the Brownies- it is quite nice to work with the different age ranges though- and i feel slightly more confident now that i know most of the girls from camping over the summer- the Brownies do ware you out though. All they seem to do is run and scream.
Anyway, following through with this week- yesterday i was at Rainbows, and today i had arranged to meet with a couple of people from our studio last year to talk about the new arrangement of the Opt-in Space.
We have been given a small extra room for the Opt-in Space this year- as the part time students are being given studio space, we have gained their project room. But what to do with this room is the challenge. The guys that met up had some really great ideas about ways of opening up the whole space without having to loose walls- As the 'guinea pigs' as such, for the space, they are really taking the initiative of what to do with it next (Since the creators left this June). The plan as of yet is still to be discussed with the new intake into the studio next week- but we have discussed breaking down some walls to let in some natural light, to have a centralised sofa/ working area and bring the the black space and blue room into one room. Also we may be given a projector to use in the space permanently, which is fantastic for shows etc and maybe we can use the small room as a bookable space for the people in Opt-in. The guys that came in are also really keen to start building their own furniture for the space as well as movable walls (This sounds amazingly difficult and i wish i had the woodwork capabilities to do it). I did have to mention though, that not everyone else would be able to help with the furniture making. I say everyone- to be honest it's just me that doesn't have a clue how to do it. I can't wait now until next week to see who is moving to our studio. It is all very exciting. I think our emphasis for next week is to try and keep everyone included in discussion and get them excited about the space, whether they are a painter of video maker- they shouldn't feel like they can't use the space.
Anyway, following through with this week- yesterday i was at Rainbows, and today i had arranged to meet with a couple of people from our studio last year to talk about the new arrangement of the Opt-in Space.
We have been given a small extra room for the Opt-in Space this year- as the part time students are being given studio space, we have gained their project room. But what to do with this room is the challenge. The guys that met up had some really great ideas about ways of opening up the whole space without having to loose walls- As the 'guinea pigs' as such, for the space, they are really taking the initiative of what to do with it next (Since the creators left this June). The plan as of yet is still to be discussed with the new intake into the studio next week- but we have discussed breaking down some walls to let in some natural light, to have a centralised sofa/ working area and bring the the black space and blue room into one room. Also we may be given a projector to use in the space permanently, which is fantastic for shows etc and maybe we can use the small room as a bookable space for the people in Opt-in. The guys that came in are also really keen to start building their own furniture for the space as well as movable walls (This sounds amazingly difficult and i wish i had the woodwork capabilities to do it). I did have to mention though, that not everyone else would be able to help with the furniture making. I say everyone- to be honest it's just me that doesn't have a clue how to do it. I can't wait now until next week to see who is moving to our studio. It is all very exciting. I think our emphasis for next week is to try and keep everyone included in discussion and get them excited about the space, whether they are a painter of video maker- they shouldn't feel like they can't use the space.
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