The lead up to the launch on Friday was busy. I finished my piece ready for my performance by the Tuesday but the rest of the week was filled with organising the hanging of the other work. We had three performances, five 3d pieces and a very limited amount of space. Wednesday I spent most of the day wondering around trying to work out where everything was going to go, changing my mind and then changing it back again. Luckily on Thursday there was two of us doing it and we could spend a good amount of time discussing the pros and cons of different lay outs. It was much easier doing it with two of us. We got most of it hung on the Thursday and just had finishing touches to do on the Friday but like always, the stuff you think will be quick, ends up taking ages. Friday was subsequently pretty hectic.
At 7.30pm on Friday, I got in my white suit and climbed in to my little white house, and began to draw (at first a little shaky handed). I was drawing on to the walls of the tightly stretched semi-transparent fabric. This meant that as I drew, the line showed through to the viewer, on the outside. They could see me as well but it was a bit like looking through a heavy fog. I traced the room, doorways and viewers as they walked around me. I hadn’t planned the drawing at all, so I just responded to what I could see from the particular angle I looked from at that time, therefore the representation was very fluid and changeable. I work round and round and across the top panels. It was great when someone would work out what I was doing and stop to allow me to trace their outline. They therefore had complete control over how long I could draw them for. Quite often I would get half way round and they’d walk off, so I was left with half figures, bodiless legs, and many empty shoes. The thing I really enjoyed was this interaction, each viewer changing the drawing and choosing how to act, being delighted about being recorded. People appeared, from my angle to be dancing around the house, I would catch parts of the same person several times around the house. I couldn’t quite work out always who was who, so even people I knew, past me by as just another viewer. They kind of became this whole other, separate from me…my audience.
The whole evening was fantastic, there was a great buzz and I really got the feeling the audience where really engaging with us. Most pieces seemed to be creating a reaction. We all felt proud of all our efforts and went home with and excited glow!
