GW: PREPARING EXHIBITION SPACE

This represented issues as due to the nature of a space where a lot of artists are exhibiting things can keep on changing. It also did not help that my full time job had just started and time for me to spend on site preparing was at a premium, or that technical support was a little erratic to help install my work. I had been considering the space for  a while and knew roughly the area I would be working in would be a rectangular space, and be able to be made pretty light tight so projections will work and approximately 3.25 meters by 5 meters rectangle. See below for my initial idea for the installation in this space.

In the end my gallery installation space was made up of two main elements but 6 parts to this.

1: Found/Collated Footage Film-reel on Global Warmning.
A projection of the collection of "found footage" films that I was the curator of. In reality these were all created by me but were not being sold to the audience this way. This compromised of a showreel with four elements on it. TV News piece, Manifesto by Ben Wright, Documentary Interview with Ben Wright, a last Manifest from Ben Wright  and finally a title board saying Ben Wright had disappeared again. The story is told chronologically through these elements and they are all film based although the manifestos are mocked up to look like they are captured from online. This is just under 16 minutes long and has sound throughout and will play on  a loop.


GW EXHIBITION FINAL 2 from Jon Saward on Vimeo.


2: Display case full of Global Warmning Artefacts and Ephemera
This was a collection of artefacts that I designed and were made primarily by a collaborator of found or collected items from the Global Warmning movement. The intention is that the real looking physicality of these items solidified the story as they provide tangible evidence that it did actually exist. It is a variety of artefacts from posters and hand-bills to newspaper headlines and through to a badge and photos. These were to be displayed in a large display case 225cm by 120cm with a glass top.


The aim and intentions for the installation
before I continue here are the intentions for the installation and how I envisage exhibiting the piece for the audience to disseminate, interact with it and be immersed in it.

• I want the audience experience to be the questioning of the nature of installations, the media of film and TV, as well as the museum/gallery feel of the artefacts. It is really a film with added extras but I want all of these elements to complement and be intrinsic to one another to build a whole. I also want them to get involved the idea is that by offering a range of elements there will be something for everyone but also a puzzle. and for them to question what are the elements? How do they fit together? What is the story they tell? What is the ideology? The aim is to make them consider the topic of global warming in a different way and perhaps to be left with some of the ideas or for it to generate discussion and hopefully response long after they leave.

• I want the public to move around the space and interact with the elements in the installation. Due to the nature of the video work the and the lack of pre-eminance of the visuals to tell the story a lot of it works on audio alone. This allows an audience to watch it but ALSO to be able to listen only and still pick up the story. This can be done while viewing the artefacts in the display case. As some of the artefacts being created may not stand up to ultra close scrutiny a way for the audience to look at and read them if necessary BUT to keep them a little at arms length too. I do want movement to be free BUT feel some type of seating for the video work would work. It provides a sit down from the rest of the exhibition and will allow slightly longer video work to be delivered in comfort.

• There may also be the added element of some of the participants attending the private view are happy to play their character if approached. This will have the added interest of seeing characters who are in the video piece milling about the exhibition as a whole and see how the public react to them. They will be low key and just another audience member and it will be interesting to see if they notice them at all.

The Projection Installation Issues and Compromises
The reality was that the width of my gallery space was reduced to 240cm when I had planned for it to be at least 325cm. Also the nature of the erection of the board display system was such that it meant I ended up with a cross brace piece of it at the back of my installation on the wall I was intending to project onto. This meant that due to the with of my space I could not project onto the back wall of my area as it encroached on the space and the throw of the . I did feel a little aggrieved as if I had been consulted on the decision on the width of  my area I could have flagged this up and changes could possibly have been made to those around me without too much interference with their work. As it was it seemed too late when I realised the issue to change it! I also feel that my area was compromised more than most. I played around with other ways I could utilise the space and came up with the compromises below.

The best compromise to solve the problem was to screen the work across the rectangular installation space rather than the length of it. This was a huge compromise as it greatly reduced the scale that my video work could be screened at and therefore its impact. As I had only 240cm to project across I decided to mount the projector as high as possible to increase the throw of the image. I had a standard HD projector booked out but due to the space for the throw did also try a short throw projector which gave a bigger image. However the compromise here was that the projector was old and the input was phono not HD. In the end I decided to sacrifice scale in favour of quality and go with the smaller but better quality image. This set up is outlined below with the cross brace highlighted in pink to the right of the chairs.

In terms of getting the projector up high I made one with Danielle the technician that could be mounted on the boards high up. It was built with a hinge so the angle of the projector could be changed. Once it was installed by the technicians It was a fiddly job adjusting with the keystone to get the image square and also to adjust picture and sound to make sure they were just right. One issue will be the projector does not have a remote so the only way to turn it on will be by climbing a ladder and switching it on. Technical support during the build was at a premium so it will be an issue to solve later.

In the installation did initially have speaker stands to either side of the projection BUT this seemed to make too much of  a feature. So I eventually ended up tucking them away discretely under the chairs which did not really affect the sound and kept the installation cleaner. Initially I was going to put a roof on my exhibition space to cut out some of the light but after consulting with another student who was going to do the same and my tutors I abandoned this idea. It would make the space feel too enclosed and with the decent projector found that light spill from the rest of the exhibition was not too much of an issue. Sound levels will be an issue as there will be some noise pollution to the rest of the exhibition from my installation. I will have to just get it as loud as I can and make sure the audience will be able to hear it but not offend the rest of the artists.

The Display Case and Artefacts
From the above diagram you can see where the display case of artefacts ended up which was parallel to the projection. Originally it was going to be against the left hand side wall as you look at the diagram above. However after consultation with my tutors it made more sense to put it on the back wall. This made the space seem bigger and also allowed for the audience to look at the artefacts AND the projection simultaneously.

Final thoughts
The complete installation of my work flows well in terms of layout and I am pretty happy with the results. The only caveat and it is a large one is the size of the projection.

• Make sure at all discussions in changes to layout of the show.
• Plan when I need the technicians and book them in.
• Consider ALL elements that I will need. The projector shelf was a late addition and I should have planned this.
• Rigorously test projectors and their throw.
• Fight a bit harder for what I need and do not compromise quite so much. The projection is the crux of my piece and feel it is underserved by the space I had to work with.