University of Sunderland

De-installing the degree show has taken considerably less time than installing it did. However, this has meant that I have been able to immerse myself not only in research for my attendance at the Khamseen symposium but also in sending work to exhibitions and trying to find a suitable postgraduate research post. The Khamseen news was exciting stuff. I’m feeling pretty nervous about it as I am all too aware that I am not there simply to observe and enjoy, but also to review and hence be open to reviewing! However, the opportunity is most appreciated and with tickets booked for relevant trains, I am ready for whatever the symposium brings.The impending house move is looming large and at the moment it feels that life is even busier than the run up to the degree show was. I’m not sure I thought that would be possible a mere fortnight ago.

Unfortunately, this mass of activity has meant that I have not been posting as regularly as before but I plan to keep my blog running over the next few months. So any short absences are simply a reflection of my being busy rather than a reluctance to post! With that in mind, I am also aware I have not posted degree show photos as yet. However, the nature of my installation made it nigh impossible to photograph. I have an HD video recording that I plan to work on later this week and hope to be able to draw some stills from the footage. So images will arrive at some stage.

Hope the graduand phase is being kind to everyone. Haven’t the last three years flown???

The degree show is over. All of the stress, effort and heartache to have spaces complete, work ready to show and the various set up tasks behind the show are now a distant memory. However, the show itself is a strange phenomenon. We build it up into a major event, the culmination of our last three years (in the main, longer for those who have been studying for a PT BA), yet it passes by quickly and seems something of an anticlimax. Am I alone in feeling this way? Upon arrival (early) there was a sense of confusion as nobody seemed entirely sure what was expected and indeed what was meant to be happening. This confusion dissipated by 630pm, halfway through the 3 opening hours of the show, when visitors were at a maximum and discussions of the work presented were in full flow. However, with no formal opening, no comment from faculty staff whatsoever and a lack of any kind of formality at the event, it was a decidedly understated affair. Our building is not the easiest to negotiate and by necessity the work was split into five separate areas, none of which lead naturally into each other. For the adventurous viewer, this can be an exciting challenge of the orienteering variety, if only to negotiate the somewhat confusing (yet accurate) building map. It can also lead to frustration in those who expect a show to follow a more linear path. Thought must be spared for the poor almost graduates who have to direct such frustrated creatures towards the work they seek. Abandon patience and courtesy all ye who are annoyed by building layout!!

The work itself seemed to invite comment and provoke responses. I feel an odd combination of pride and guilt that my installation managed to cause a spate of vomiting in one particularly sensitive vistor…. It certainly seemed to be a work which caused visitors to form strong opinions. It is causing me a few headaches to ensure it is up and running all week though – I can’t help wishing in some respects my work for the show was 2D, or at the very least static and did not require two visits daily – particularly as my clutch cable snapped on the way home last night necessitating a two hour wait on a deserted road for a recovery vehicle and a rather uninspiring game of I-Spy for one in the wee small hours……

The work was completed on time last Friday – phew! However, life has been manic since and I have not had time to reflect upon the experience yet or decide how I feel right now. To put you in the picture, I had an acceptable offer for my house as I walked to my car from the studio on Friday afternoon and by Monday afternoon I had had an offer accepted on one I want to buy in Scotland so it’s all systems go with ‘real’ life outside uni too. I am going in today to switch off the installations on the sculpture corridor at end of play. There is a rumour we will know our marks by the degree show tomorrow – not sure where this has originated or how much truth is in it, but I do recall that the students graduating last year were aware of their marks at the degree show. It was the topic of most of the conversation at that show! I am now trying to decide how best to document my installation (possibly HD video???). It is fairly intense and I can’t help but feel that any attempts to record it will not come close to the effect that being in the space, surrounded by the projection and the noise, causes in the viewer. One has told me it made him feel sick (a compliment to a powerful piece rather than disgust I hope!) and another that she felt excited and anxious when in the room alone with it. I feel good about this work. I feel that I have managed to iron out the issues that were preventing it from working and have produced something interesting and with depth. I feel strangely sad that it is ‘complete’ and does not need my ministrations any longer….

Well, the work had to be completed by 4pm today. It was. It has been an exceptionally long, exhilirating, tiring and frustrating week. I am exhausted. I will blog properly – and add some photos – tomorrow. It feels very odd to be apart from my work now and to have deemed it 'finished'. The show is next Friday. This is a truly bittersweet time.

Today is MUCH better! I feel almost optimistic despite there being a lot still to do in my space. However, the screen is up and mostly covered in tape. The projection looks brilliant with all the reflections it throws back from the tape. It is better than I hoped it would be after the small scale experiments. I am unsure whether it needs the additional sculptural elements in the space now though. They may get lost in the theatre of light and sound the screen and projection produce. To be honest, the fly in the positive ointment today is tutors giving last minute advice/direction. Especially when each one has a different approach and hence advice which contradicts that of their colleagues. Perhaps the point is that ultimately this is my degree show and my decision – these late comments are somewhat red herring in nature? Ultimately, the space and the piece will dictate where this work ends up. For now, I am going to end on the 'feeling positive' note. This feeling is epitomised by our lovely techs, Graham, Dave and Dave who have helped me enormously today. I would be a stressed, quivering wreck without them. They have experienced enough degree show preparations to find that level of hysteria amusing. I can appreciate that!