Alternative Realities

It was late last year that Jude put forward the idea of holding a 3rd Year show, to widespread support. Initial Professional Practice meetings, with Gill as expert advisor, identified the dates when the Academy Gallery space was available, and we settled on opening 10 to 16 February. That gave everyone time to work on pieces over the break.

The class really worked well together, with a well-organised committee, supported by the others, all communicating via a Facebook page. Facebook allowed everyone to feel informed and able to contribute, including more distance students. Everyone contributed £10 at the outset to avoid the extra hassle of fundraising. A poster was drafted, and, as the show date grew closer, a list of work drawn up, and an invigilation rota. There was close liaison with Steve the technician over health and safety.  It was agreed that personal contact details and prices should not be part of this show.

Steve warned that the allocation of spaces is often a source of conflict, but there was actually very little, and everyone was accommodating to other folks' needs. There was a range of work to be shown, including projection and installations, as well as painting and photography. Part of the success of this process was that Jude and the organising committee allowed a lot of time for contributors to put forward their needs in terms of space, light and electric sockets. Spaces were then allocated in order of need, with the most flexible last. That seemed to work well.

Steve was very helpful during the hanging process on 6 February. He was able to give very practical advice - for example on optimum hanging heights (c.58" for the centre of a piece), and on the way in which spot lighting could be used to highlight particular pieces. He assisted some contributors with hanging, and was able to introduce new ideas linked to the meaning of the piece, rather than to 'order' for its own sake. Although I have not had much experience of hanging, I felt that the whole composition of the show worked well, within limits of space and electrical sockets. Not everyone was available to hang their pieces at exactly the same time, so there was not really an opportunity to reconsider locations on the basis of how it all looked. Without too much re-hanging or calculation, however, diverse pieces were hung side by side and, in my view, worked pretty well together. There was probably scope for some improvement on show composition, but I think we did well.

Meanwhile posters were put up all over Elgin, and there was online publicity on Facebook and on the Moray College webpage, thanks to Gill. 

The opening was very well attended, and there was positive feedback on the quality and standard of the work and exhibition as a whole. Two non-contributor volunteers at the 'bar' out in the foyer did a sterling job in ensuring that people had wine/juice and nibbles, allowing the artists to talk with visitors about their work. 

The invigilation rota worked fairly well, although perhaps the table could have been more visible to visitors. It was helpful to have one evening opening, for those working during the day. More would probably have improved visitor numbers, but would have required invigilation from students with domestic responsibilities outside college, so was not practical. While I was invigilating a school group and a special needs class visited the show, as well as several individuals.

The show was taken down successfully. It was probably of a standard that it could have been up for longer, had the Academy Gallery been available. We did not collect visitor numbers, but it would be useful to share feedback from invigilators, as well as from Steve, the tutors and all those who participated in the show. I certainly found it a good learning experience, and a confidence-builder. While there was quite a bit of work involved, it was a good demonstration of the quality of exhibition that students can mount with relatively little 'expert' input.