After preparing my piece and tidying the warehouse, me and my peers held the final show, everyone had something original to offer, constituting a varied, dynamic exhibition. I was sure to return to the vicinity of my piece and speak to gallery-goers that I had not met before as well as conversing with my classmates about my piece, I did this in preparation for this evaluation. I heard some optimistic interpretations as well as melancholy ones, an older man stated that it reminded him of his own unfinished business that he may never get around to. Because I was able to illicit genuine emotional responses and present my work neatly and at a height that everyone could see clearly, I would mark the work and the shelving method a success.
The theme of unfinished business was appropriately demonstrated via miniature painting as it provided an example of someone successfully completing something they had moved to the side of their life. The miniature painting was the perfect catalyst for this because it’s an art form I feel nostalgia for and a sentimental connection to. Displaying the tools and materials used for the creative process helped cement the process in of itself as the art, the fact that this was ever done; it is the aftermath and evidence of a performance. Gathering feedback was my technique of assimilating the successful unification of nostalgia and sentimentality with the physical presence of the artwork itself.
Revisiting the instigation of the show, I did regret not utilizing a black foam disk that I found in the warehouse’s storage, It was a large scale imitation of the stands that the miniature warriors balance on and would have been a fitting platform for the piece. Unfortunately, it didn’t fit on the shelves and after a discussion, my tutor and curator recommended I leave it behind. This was an issue at the time as I was still reluctant to use plain white shelves but in hindsight, I believe it to be an improvement; it fits in with the other pieces, lacks a tacky atmosphere and contrasts aesthetically pleasingly with the black stands. Before this, I encountered another unexpected obstacle when transporting my final piece from home to the gallery space, they were knocking against each other and falling over, one even lost an arm.
I countered this by snugly wrapping each one inside bubble wrap and my jacket for the journey to Plymouth, after this I put them in a tub and carefully carried them to the warehouse. Fortunately I had brought super glue with me to display the creative process so I was able to fix the arm before the show. The planning could certainly be improved, it was frightening being saved my mere luck alone. This has been a large project in which I have worked under deadline pressure, social pressure, academic pressure and artistic pressure. I have put my work out there to be judged and I’m thankful for every day I spent creating my submission for the exhibition!
Ozzy Chambers' blog 