details discussed, issues determined. solutions found.
Written by Penelope Payne.
Once confirmation emails had been sent out to the selected artists I began to engage with everyone on a personal level. Firstly to introduce myself, many of them don’t know me, secondly and more significantly to get a more nuanced understanding of the work and the installation needs. Levels of engagement with each artist dependent on the complexity of the install and the point of development of the work.
Some pieces are new to audiences, some of the work will be reconfigured for this exhibition. A lot of this was done remotely, email, zoom the usual suspects, I did visit Rob Smith in his studio in Byker. I think he will agree that It was a useful conversation for both of us. Details discussed, issues determined. solutions found.
The physical practicalities of this years Open Call are varied, the equipment list includes for example, a projector, 4 TV screens, 8 speakers, a custom plinth and some sandwiches. Some works will be a simple instal, others will be complicated and reliant on the installation and AV team. I probably need to erase a ‘simple install’ they’re the ones that can/will give us trouble. Before install week, space for the artists will be finalised and we need a lot of space.
In addition to the Open Call there are another 70 plus art works, talks, films and performances going on. MAW installs work all over Middlesbrough, you could find yourself showing in a shop built in the seventies or a 100 year old bank. The walls may be incapable of bearing a feather or made of solid, bomb proof concrete. We might have to bring in lighting or block out lighting or both at the same time.
Over the next weeks I will try to preempt every installation scenario, mentally visualising each work in the space and how the works sit together and how to best draw out the stories behind each artists interpretation of ‘Measure’. Curating the work, but also the journey that the audience will embark on as they navigate the show.
The connectivity of work shown in one or two large spaces as the Open Call often is, is a balancing act. And there’s the question of interpretation too, for instance how work is labelled and explained, or not, always controversial.
I was invited last year to join curators from The Metropolitan Museum, New York. and the National Gallery, London to a discussion about the touring show by painter Winslow Homer. The Met. had the original, larger show Crosscurrents, the smaller but no less impactful Force of Nature was the National Gallery’s adaptation. Both Museums showed the same work (mostly) hung, titled and re annotated to underpin each galleries specific understanding. The result was two different shows that led the viewer to understand two very different aspects of the same work. Fascinating stuff.
Before I know it we will be in installation week for Middlesbrough Art Week. Thinking on ones feet and a few long days are on the cards.