We have spent the last five days in Stoke-on-Trent installing our work for British Ceramics Biennial. Joseph Young and I drove up from Brighton after a frenzied final week (me not Joseph, together with my studio helpers putting the hours in to make this happen – thank you both!), arriving Saturday 16th September. This gave us a good amount of time to install, with the grand opening happening on Friday 22nd. We had been informed that the work had to be ready by Wednesday morning as the press visit was scheduled for then. Now, it is Wednesday and I can revise that information! We were not ready, as were half the exhibitors, the space looked like an industrial building site filled with all manner of installation and building materials, the press did visit (early too!) and everything was fine!
It has been the usual installation adventure – it wouldn’t be complete without a few dramas, mishaps, last minute changes and resolutions!
The plan that had been hatched between ourselves and Barney Hare Duke, the director, was to build two parallel walls a distance of about 4 metres apart. Mine would slant towards the viewer, the top protruding overhead, and the Koreans’ would be perpendicular, slanting back away from the viewer. This idea came about when we were grappling with how to suggest an architectural roof shape through tiles. The overhanging structure would give the impression of a roof overhead. The parallel walls would grab the attention from across the vast space, visually linking the two walls more effectively than if they were simply upright. Sounded like it could work very well.
We arrived and the structures were duly in place, the Koreans’ board was up and ready for hanging the work on; mine was on the floor as it had been decided it would be easier to install the tiles flat.
Sunday
The first thing I did on Sunday morning was to lay out my template on to the board to discover that it was not big enough! This must have been due to the fact the curators changed our site and the new dimensions were different from the old. Anyway, I didn’t need to worry for long. Pete, the main BCB installation guru, sorted it within an hour, adding on half a metre all along the 4m length, making it quite colossal. Would the structure be able to take the weight now? How would we get it up there? These questions remained in the background whilst I spent the rest of that day filling and painting the board.
Joseph set the speakers up rudimentarily to test the sound piece in the space and it sounds really good.
Kyungwon and Jin arrived on Sunday night. Won has been in Europe all summer. After finishing the residency at The Ceramic House, she went to do a wood firing symposium in Estonia followed by a residency in Denmark. Jin flew back from Korea especially. It’s lovely to see them again.
Monday
I spent all day applying the tiles on to the board. Another last-minute change of plan had been the adhesive. I had been planning to use a new velcro-type product made by Johnson Tiles, BCB’s main sponsor. Introduced as the answer to tiling, an innovative new product that would revolutionise tiling, the first sample I tried in my studio fell off within 24 hours! It’s not really designed for use with hand-made (read: slightly wonky) tiles. So, I plumped for an old favourite: silicon. All day I tiled, finishing by night, done. Phew. Jin and Won wallpapered their board with special wallpaper they had had designed in Seoul with a border of Wedgwood Jasperware.
Tuesday
Next morning, fiasco. After a wet night, the rain was fairly pouring in through the roof directly on to the spot where Joseph’s speakers and computer hub was meant to be positioned. Luckily, we had predicted the weather and covered everything with plastic, but we were faced with a flood! Not only that, but some of the silicon had not gone off, and I could just twist them off. Plan B. I removed all the unstuck tiles, cut all the stuck silicon off the back, used a better, more reliable mastic and reapplied them all. Then I put drops of hot glue round edges just to make sure and spent the rest of the day trimming, sanding and repainting. Finally, it was back to where I thought it had been 24 hours before; ready to go up!
Joseph finally managed to install all the cabling and set the computer up in a new, drier spot, but water continued to come through the roof all day. We had electricians in our space installing waterproof sockets (not a good sign) and the council team round looking at the roof but apparently not actually fixing the leak. So, whether water will come in again on top of the speakers remains to be seen…! Anyway, Joseph’s piece sounds excellent and works very well in the space.
Won and Jin finished their installation, applying all their Jasperware-inspired mirror/porcelain plaques on to the wallpaper. It looks fantastic.
Wednesday
We arrived to find the press visit were already making the rounds and had already been past our space! In any case, my board was still on the floor, covered in plastic. We had a quick word and persuaded them to bring the group back at the end. Joseph switched the sound on. The noises of hand-making from the Seoul artists’ studios emanating from behind my Korea roof tile pavilion works very well, mixing in with the industrial sounds from Johnson Tiles Factory coming from behind the Wedgwood piece. Well done Joe!
Finally, in the afternoon, a team of about ten people gathered to begin the complicated and nerve-wracking process of getting my board on the wall. It worked like clockwork, involving many pairs of hands, several people wielding screwdrivers, clamps, huge bolts and screws and a forklift truck. Done!
