Preparation
Some weeks ago we were given the opportunity to curate our own exhibition; during a frantic hour or so we divided the group into teams; the Promotion team, the Hang Team and Drinks Team. I elected to be part of the hang team as I find manual labour enjoyable. Unfortunately due to some pointing Tom and I were appointed as the joint managers of this team.
Initially the team was without drama, typically it was the week of hanging that brought the stress. It was our initial intention to hang the prints with white tack, as it seems an easy process. After some tests we decided nails and bulldog clips were a more reliable solution.
I bought a good few hundred 40mm nails, as I believed these were sufficiently short enough whilst supplying a good anchor for the heavier prints. Tom surveyed the space and proclaimed there was enough wall space for every print. Although it became obvious we couldn't be sure until we started sticking things onto walls.
Multiple lists were made to catalogue the prints entered into show, as well as catalogues for the amount of stock each student was submitting for sale.
Hanging
Hanging occurred over two days. The first day, being four or five hours consisted of compositional qualms. We soon found that deciding how prints of varied format and size was easier with less people; this at least dampened the annoyance that many team members had decided not to attend.
One of our tutors Matt assisted with some final issues, but I was proud enough that he found little fault with 90% of the arrangement.
Composition was based on several factors:
1. Colours of a similar nature should not be grouped together (made problematic by the large amount of blue used)
2. Large prints should be broken up by smaller prints
3. Avoid tiling prints, break consistent gaps when possible
4. Stay within a maximum height range
I arrived after 9am the following morning and began to hit nails into the wall. We had decided that only three hangers were required to complete the job before 3PM (the show was at 6PM.
I am glad to say I made only two nail mis-placements throughout, this is mostly due to making a conscious effort not to rush the job.
Rowena brought red wool, which we used with a large spirit level and copious amounts of white tack to ensure that the prints were exactly aligned.
We nailed the last print into place around 4PM, at this point we were exhausted, between me, Tom and Paul, Joe. S and Rosie we secured over 110 prints.
The rest of the hang team were utilised for other critical elements of the show, which they will no-doubt evaluate on their own blogs.
Evaluation
The exhibition was alarmingly busy, far exceeding my personal expectations. I heard no complaints or criticisms of the layout of the actual prints, which thankfully remained on the wall. I found the curation enjoyable, but critically stressful. The exhibition preparation consumed a good week, meaning that I neglected many other pressing tasks.
I found that I was initially reluctant to allocate tasks to people, however by the second day of hanging I was less afraid to throw orders around. I cannot stress enough how helpful the team was in reducing the stress of Tom and I. I could write at length how each individual helped but that would make this wall of of text more of a novel.
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