Photographs of the exhibition

Protest to advertise exhibition.

Han

Photographs of the exhibition

Photographs showing the exhibition being put up.

Han

Photographs of the exhibition

Images showing the advertising paraphernalia and "Tomorrow belongs to us..." stationary.

Han

17th.Feb.2011 - Exhibition Documentation

FRONT DESK - EXHIBITION GUIDES, BANNERS, POSTCARDS, REFRESHMENTS

AMY'S WORK - METAL FRAME & UNDER PLASTIC SHEETING

NIALLS WORK - "Preliminary Elements for an Instituation."

MATTS WORK - C₁₀H₅ClN₂

MATT AND AMYS WORK IN GLASS CORRIDOR

MATTS - "Sturm und Drang"

NIALLS BOOKCASE - POLITICAL LIBARY

AMYS WORK

KATIE :)

Reflection

I think as a group we were all fairly pleased with our exhibition, but we were mainly thinking about it in the context of a university project, and competing with other exhibitions that were also created by first years. We need to think more about how successful our exhibition was in a professional context: does it compete with other Birmingham galleries for example? I don't think we could honestly say that our exhibition was as high enough standard to compete with professionally curated exhibitions. Firstly, our biggest problem was that we chose an outside courtyard space within University grounds, but with it being a Grade 1 listed building we were really restricted in how we could display work. We couldn't really use the walls at all, and any ideas we had with more creative ways to hang work were later thrown out due to health and safety. We also didn't really have enough work to fill the space, we'd chosen quite a large space. Nearer the exhibition date we encountered some problems with the artists such as Matt destroying 2 large-scale paintings we were planning to show, and Niall last-minute telling us he didn't want to display work that he originally said he would. We tried to get in touch with another first year student who created large billboards which tied in with our theme and also thought would help fill up the space, but couldn't get in touch with him/ find him anywhere because he hadn't been into uni for weeks. 


The idea of our exhibition being outside I think was successful - as a group we tended to feel that a 'white cube' space can be quite intimidating, almost like a library in that you feel like you have to be quiet and act in a certain way. The outside space was working around the idea of an exhibition that was really accessible to all, rather than white cube spaces where maybe only a certain type of people from the public go. With our theme being 'anarchy' we really didn't think the idea of a white gallery space was appropriate, with the idea of destruction or protest. Obviously our exhibition was flawed in that it wasn't fully accessible to the public anyway, with it being inside a University space where there are no public passing through. If we could have chosen anywhere in Birmingham to create an exhibition we all thought an outside space in Digbeth could have been a good idea - as it's quite industrial and there's an up-and-coming art scene starting to happen there.


Also, Mona mentioned to us about where being an artist stops and where being a curator begins. Does what curators do completely change the artwork? With one of Amy's pieces we displayed it under a plastic sheet that was covered in rainwater, which she liked the idea of. But we also left leaves on the plastic that she wanted to remove, so in a way we were then changing her art or how people see it. 






Kiri Smart

Exhibition Critique...

On the 17th Feb, the date of our exhibition we had a meeting in the exhibition space with Mona.
The overall review was positive, Mona mentioned a few things we needed to tidy up and we all agreed with her comments.
Critique comments:

• Because the space was so big we had to stretch the artists work out along the entire outside space to make it look "fuller." However this meant that the work was a little too broken up and it was hard to distinguish what was a piece of work and what wasnt, for example, Amys piece underneath the plastic sheeting.
• Mona also said, (about Amys piece underneath the plastic) were we as curators manipulating this piece of work to be displayed in a way it normally wouldnt be, meaning that we were in control of what goes where or was the artist in control deciding where her work went in relation to the outdoor space given? Our Answer = we chose the outside space for the artists to fill, we gave them specific areas to work with and they chose work they thought suitable.
• The "Tomorrow Belongs to Us"  tags. We placed the cardboard tags on string next the Amys work so that people knew it was a piece of work for the show. However we also used them in Nialls space where we hung his collection of flags "Preliminary Elements for an Instituation."  Mona said, the tags in Amys piece were to identify her work, however in Nialls the tags actually become part of the piece, becoming art as well as tags. So were they art? Our Answer = we admit that we got carried away with the tags, hanging them anywhere, but we honestly didnt mean for them to be included as an art piece.

Overall I think our exhibition was successfull. I think the nearer it got to the exhibition deadline everything become a little rushed and frantic but we pulled everything together to produce a professional first year curated show. I've enjoyed the experience and working with my tutor group. We all took our roles in the exhibition seriously and I think our hard work paid off.

I cant remember what else was mentioned in the meeting so if there's anything else to add then do :)

KATIE :) 

ideas.

As part of Niall's work includes giving out hand made patches, i suggested each member of our group wears one at the exhibition, i thought this would unite us, make it obvious that we were the curators and also in a way, make us part of the exhibition. I also thought that as we aren't using the bookshelf piece because of the attention it's already had, we could make some of the documents from the piece available to the people that attend the exhibition; it might be a nice way to make the exhibition more educational.

Ash.