Installation

There were a few pieces of work that were made for specific areas in the studio, like my friend Sarah’s booth room where she has created an exciting sound/installation piece. This meant that the curating of the exhibition was quite simple, although it was not a process I was completely involved with, from what I saw the show seemed to fall together naturally as different works were meant for different places. There were a few requirements that I had for my final piece and these were that it be in an area that was easy to get the amount of power I needed to, and that it wouldn’t be directly close to one of the windows as the light reflecting off of the screens effected how you viewed the work. I was lucky enough to be placed in the large first year space, and my work is seen on your left if you come in through the left-side entrance. I am extremely pleased with the space as I never expected to be given such a large area to work in which is fantastic. My space is next to the reading corner which also works perfectly for me as that is something that I would happily be associated with. The plan was to run cables from one of the sockets placed on one of the corners of the studio and run the cable down to my work, this ultimately became one of the biggest concerns for me which is something that is likely to happen when your entire work relies on power! The work also had enough space to come away from the wall a bit more and have the chairs spreading out into the middle. As I had the table pretty much ready, and all of the TVs organised it was simply a case of getting my table in the space and getting the power to the work and doing any final bits. I was a bit cautious with bringing the table into the space during the week of painting the studio as I would have been really worried if any white paint got onto the black gloss. Installing my work is something that cannot really be done alone as the table itself is very heavy as are the TVs, and this is something that I have mentioned within my risk assessments of the work and the final show. 

After the table was placed in the space I felt it was important to get it positioned exactly right as I knew that later on in the day the wiring would need to be done for the extension leads as well as the fact that it is impossible to move the table once the TVs are placed on top. We measured out the space that I was allocated and made sure that it was in the centre, this meant bringing it closer to the wall on the right hand side. I was concerned also about the table top, as some of the painting I had done previously in the week hadn’t dried as well as I had expected it to. I know that with something as important as this it is key to make sure that you are completely happy with everything and how it looks, more than anything I would hate to come away from this experience with doubts about how something was done. This meant that I added another thicker coat of paint onto the top of the table that I let dry overnight. I was so glad I took the time to do this when I saw it the following morning I realised that the table had come out better than I had ever envisioned it. 

I then wanted to make sure that the legs were completely secure so that the TVs would be fully supported and it would be safe. I checked that the plates of the legs were all attached to the table properly and that all the legs were screwed on as tightly as they could be after all of the moving. I also wanted to make sure that the table was completely level, so using a spirit level I adjusted the feet on the bottom of the table, this helped to make it much sturdier. There was not much more involved in setting up my work as it was just a case of installing the piece. However I did go over some of the back wall with white paint, particularly with the edging down the bottom. I felt that this would be easily noticed because of all of the wires on the floor so I had to be careful with what this looked like. 

I had a slight problem with one of the TVs the night before and had a panic when one wouldn't play the correct disc, this involved swapping two of the TVs and changing the order that they were sat in. Although this wasn’t so much of a problem, I was concerned that this would happen when the work was on, therefore I firstly wanted to let the films play for a long period of time both today and on Thursday, and secondly that I had a spare TV brought into the college that could be stored in case anything went wrong and I was not there to change it. 

I had help from Martin to run two extremely long extension leads across the top of the boards and to pin them down the centre of the work. He was so precise and made two normal extension leads look amazing. What I liked about these as the white of the wires came down from the white wall and connected with the different elements of my work that are all black. There was also a lot of length left in the extensions which was perfect as I really liked the idea of having some extra wire to play with the place underneath the table to get the effect of the intermingling wires and loops. He mentioned that health and safety wouldn’t be a concern for this as the guests wouldn’t be going around the back of the work as the space around it doesn’t quite allow for that. 

My next concern was where the book that I had made for the exhibition was going to go, this turned out to be the biggest problem for me, but I feel happy in the decision that I have come to with the help of my friend Sarah and the tutors Jane and Claudia. It was great watching the films with Claudia and getting her feedback on the work as I hadn’t had the chance to do this previously. I have compiled a longer artist statement that I wanted to go with the work, as I feel that the writing for me is as much a part of the work as the films themselves. This book consisted of a title page, a contents page, an introduction explaining how important Linda Weintraub’s Making Contemporary Art was to my final piece, the ten artist transcriptions, various quotes in between and finally an acknowledgements page. I felt that this had come together into a professional piece of writing when I got this bound into a hardback black book, however from the moment I first saw the book I was unsure about how well it would work as a part of my piece, and it is something I knew I would have to work out on the day of installing. I must have known that there is something that I wouldn’t feel connected with this because I also brought in a plastic edge bound copy of the same text to compare it to. I felt that the book was much to hard, and uninviting and because of this it was disconnected with the way in which I wanted the work to be easy and engaging, something that an audience can enjoy watching. I knew that I needed the text as for me it has become such an important part of the work, and I feel that it would be a shame if the audience couldn’t see the rest of the information behind the films in the transcriptions. I felt that it wasn’t right if this information was lost and would not do the people who took part in the filming justice. I wanted the audience to engage with the book, read what inspired it and who I had to thank, as well as acknowledge that the work was much more than what they were seeing in the films, that it was an entire experience for the people involved. We spoke about how the paper copies were much more engaging and easier to flick through, hold and work with. I had always felt that these were the right format however I never would have known if I hadn’t tried all of this out. I tried out placing this on the wall instead of the bound book and felt then that this had become too separate from the work and again was less engaging to a viewer. I felt that they had to be immersed in the work, and it was suggested that they were placed on the seats so that those who were sitting down in front of the work would pick them up as they take their place. There was a concern that this would distract them from watching the films however I feel that the book and the films work together, and it would depend on the customer as to which one they would prefer to engage with. This is what I wanted; the freedom of choice for the audience, having the chance to do what they want with it. I would love if the audience were to place some on the table when finished with the book or under a chair if they didn’t really want to hold it and look through it at all. However, these are the kinds of things that I couldn’t possibly know until the night. Therefore I felt that I needed to go with my instinct with this as that would be what was best for the work. Eventually, I decided that I would have four copies of this dissertation-style bound book, they would be placed on the chairs but are free to move around within the space to accommodate the viewer. I then considered the content and felt that if it was no longer on the wall then I would like to have a short artist statement with the work. I decided to take a quote from Weintraub’s book as I have struggled to describe the work in a few sentences better than her writing could do. My artist statement now is:

Jenna Lockett

A: ARTIST 

B: AUDIENCE AND COMMUNICATION

C: MOTIVATIONS

D: FUNCTION

Installation. Four screens, four films, four stools, four books.

(each film approx. 5 mins long.)

‘On the production side, artists transform the private zones of their imaginations, insights, knowledge, emotions, and intuitions into forms that are transmittable to others. On the consumption side, viewers not only have the option of purchasing works of art, they also consume art each time they delight in it, learn from it, and identify with it, or reject it, criticise it and condemn it.’

Linda Weintraub

Making Contemporary Art: How Modern Artists Think and Work (2003)

I am extremely pleased with this as I feel that this quote speaks of what the work is to me completely, it also touches on a few things mentioned within the films. I decided to strip back the booklets and make them much more focused on the transcriptions to allow them to become more immersed into the work. I added ‘transcriptions’ to the title page and included the two larger pieces of writing about the book that inspired the work and the acknowledgements right at the front, then followed by the ten artist transcriptions. I feel that together these will all work a lot better as a whole and will be much more accessible, comfortable and versatile. 

I love film photography and I felt it would be a shame if I didn’t get any film photographs of my work for the final exhibition. Therefore after setting everything up today and turning all of the work on I spent half an hour just photographing my work and the space on my film camera, hopefully these will come out nice. I also took some photos on my digital camera and plan to take some more once all of the texts are all in the space. 

I am so proud of what I have achieved with this piece as I feel it is more than I ever thought I could do. Two things I am particularly proud of are the making of the table and the editing of the films, as these are two things that I didn’t know much about previously and I am so pleased that I have developed these two skills. 

I assisted my friend Sarah with the setting up of her piece today. This involved carefully laying down some cream fur onto the floor of her booth, and adding hundreds of feathers onto the top of it. It was incredibly fun doing this today and it was a really enjoyable experience, her work looks fantastic and I’m glad I had the chance to be a part of that experience!

I hope to do a critical evaluation of my own piece and then a review of the private view and the exhibition over the next few weeks! I hope to also continue to gather images of the installation of the remaining works.