I can't quite believe I managed to finish setting up. I'm still 'coming down' I think, and certainly when I left on Friday, I was still full of left-over adrenaline. Coupled with a rising level of exhaustion, this gave me the feeling that I might end up crying once I got home, which thankfully didn't happen.
In my last-but-one post, we were in the process of clearing the studios in preparation for the application of white emulstion and generally trying to turn working studios into a space in which an exhibition could be held…
I'd been allocated two spaces in the upstairs studio area – a longish, narrow space for my cactus and balloon installation, and a corner further down the corridor for my video work and objects.
The practice in UH fine art is to pair up each 3rd year with a 1st year who will assist them in setting up their degree show. I think this is a great idea – I really enjoyed my experience of it in 1st year, and it gave me a much better idea of what would be involved when my turn came around. Now that I'm in 3rd year, I was lucky enough to have been paired with a 1st year, Susie, who I was already friends with before she started at UH – one of our tutors had learned that we were friends, and had kindly put us together. I honestly don't know how I'd have managed without her calming influence and practical support. When I was feeling overwhelmed with all the things that needed doing, she had a way of keeping me on track and helping me to actually get things done, and I'm extremely grateful to her for this.
While the space for the cactus/balloon work was fairly straightforward in terms of requirements, I'd decided that the video/objects corner would be decorated like a 'slice' of living room – which meant wallpaper and carpet over an area of 150cm sq – a decision for which I kicked myself several times over the week because of how much hassle it was to set up, but which ultimately I think was the right thing for the work… just hope the assessing tutors see it that way too!
