Exhibition
Welcome to the third issue of Haus-a-rest.
With lock down easing this issue looks at how we have tackled self curating from our home spaces. Hopefully exhibition, parks and traditional spaces will fully open soon. I have certainly been challenged with how I show my work to the outside world and use my home space to exhibit and document my work. I hope I have been inventive and gained from it. Social media platforms, group chats and on-line discussions became so much more important as a way to show and connect.
I am delighted to welcome Nichola Rodgers who works under the name Nichola jane art will be working along side me on the Zine, Instagram and Face book page.
The Facebook page is a place to connect, share and work with artists, writes and curators.
Please join us at: https://www.facebook.com/haus.a.rest
In this issue we explore how you have tackled the issues of displaying, exhibiting and getting your work out there. With comment from Nichola, Po Alamaa, Various Artist, Zoe Crockford, Fi Hill and Divya Sharman.
A big thank you to everyone involved.
Thank you, Jenna
Changing landscapes II
I found making work relatively easy during lock down, but displaying it and finding places to exhibit proved a challenge.
I would walk around the house and my small garden seeing where best to place and photograph the work. I found that trying to mimic a gallery didn't work for me but using the work and the house as an installation was far more successful. I have also had to change my thinking as social media platforms have been one of the main stays for showing the work, A tack over on Instagram, requires a planned approach with a body of work. I also explored using public outside spaces and running pop-up events which was logistically interesting. But, i feel I am better for experimenting and moving my creative curation forward.
Jenna Fox
Instagram: Jennafoxartist
Title
Untitled
Artist name
Po Alamaa
Description
Allowing my creative urges to guide me through the making process has provided me with an abundant collection of sculptures, not sculpted by me but by the earth and time itself. In this sense, it felt like a collaboration with my neighbourhood even though I hadn’t directly interacted with anybody or even walked further than my own back yard. It finally started to feel like I am connecting with my local area. Next, I decided I should paint portraits of these rocks to capture their beauty like an artists is supposed to do. I used small paper to try and increase the amount of portraits I can make with my limited supply. As I completed portrait after portrait, I began questioning how I could display them and to whom? It didn’t take long for galleries, museums and creators to adapt to social media and sharing art online. For example, streaming live exhibitions on Instagram or running virtual tours online. I knew it was possible to have an audience even while I was stuck indoors, there had to be a way to share my art with even a small number of people. My ‘eureka’ moment came to me in the bathroom, when I realised that my mirror cabinet had a stunning set of white shelves, the perfect width for a little rock. As I held the mirror doors open in front of me and admired the view of a shallow white metal cabinet, I felt like I found Narnia in my flat. My very own white cube!
Website
https://www.instagram.com/poalamaaart
https://poalamaa.weebly.com/
PODCAST
Listen to Divya Sharman has interviwed students of art from across genres and continents
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/articulate/id1511768315
Exhibiting during a lock down!
Nichola Jane
Artists in general are not known as social creatures, but if you want to get your work out there and your story told then using social media is one way to get your work noticed. Making the work is only part of the process and you will need to self-curate, photograph and display your work.
Exhibiting has always been difficult for artists and it is a common mistake to think you will get into a gallery or be part of a curator’s project, as soon as you become a professional. Colleges and Universities do not prepare the artist enough for post education in the art world, you’re not just an artist, your become a marketing expert, a researcher, business manager, health and safety officer and event’s organiser! It can be a very daunting world if you are not prepared for rejection and acceptance, or how to approach a gallery, curator or even how to set up your own show.
The lock down forced more artists to create work at home and self-promote which for many artists could be a blessing in disguise as being stuck in the studio all day can be a dream. The question is, if you don’t have access to your studio, and you have found new ways to create work from home how do you exhibit it? Here are some tips and ideas to explore. It might even actually become your new way of exhibiting.
Artists are inventive creatures and have been coming up with new ways to exhibit work outside of the ‘white cube’ for many years, and by using social media combined with your home and you have an instant gallery space.
Although displaying in your home or garden sounds easy, art being shown in this way could become a bit twee or contrived. You still really need to think about what you are showing, if it is in the style of an exhibition, and not just a portfolio online.
Look at your home as a pop-up gallery space, how would you approach a new space in that way?
Theme or idea, the theme for your pop-up in-home art gallery should be fresh, original and relevant to your work as this gives current followers something new, while also attracting new people to see your work.
Space. Do not make the mistake of thinking any space will do. Choose a space that’s appropriate to your idea as this is critical to the success of your in-home gallery. If your work is themed around wide open landscapes then displaying it in a room full of clutter will only detract from your pieces, but this clutter full room might be perfect if your work is based on installation and you want to create a sense of intrigue to see where the art work finishes and your room clutter starts. If you still want passing public to see your work, there is also the option of window displays, this again will need carful consideration, as people will be looking through to your home and what’s behind the work.
Documenting. This is something that will need consideration too, are you just going to list photos of the pieces in situ? if so, think about lighting, angles and image size, or are you going to film the pieces? Maybe you could create a walk a-round as if you were visiting your own space. Think how this is going to be filmed, background noise, other items in shot that you might not think about such as family photos, the dog sleeping on the sofa, unless you want this to be part of the experience.
Timing. Pay attention to the timing of your exhibition; do not schedule it to go online when not many people will see it, busy times such as around lunch time 11am -1pm and evenings 7pm-9pm this will attract your potential visitors. `there are many tools and app out there to help with this type scheduling.
Promotion. Promoting your event is what will make it successful. People must know about your in-home exhibition. Make an email and Instagram account just for your artwork and exhibitions that way your feed and that of your followers is not cluttered with trivia. Think of different options for getting the word out, social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, create unique Hashtags, emails to friend’s other galleries that could be online, look at art promotion sites such as Art Rabbit, and list it like any other exhibition would be.
www.nicholajaneart.com
Instagram: nicholajaneart
Making your home an exhibition space
404space first opened it’s front door on May 11th 2019, the first of seven shows, the last of which was in early February this year. And we all know why.
In my practice I tend to veer towards the conceptual and the minimal - more laziness than practice based I’m afraid and this has spilled over into this. I wanted to seize the means of if not production then at least of showing. I liked the idea of having a gallery that no one knew of or could visit, hence the title, 404 being inter-web code for ‘error, page not found’. It is also about slipping into the arena between public and private space, it is my home after all, don’t want any riff raff /performance artists clogging up the stairwell. So I got a chippy in to put boards up over the shelving and central pane of a bay window, painted everything magnolia, set a date and asked some artist mates to contribute work to an opening show (don’t) try this at home. The word went round and a crowd duly turned up, probably more attracted by unlimited amounts of £4.99 Pinot Noir from Lidls’ than cultural enlightenment. Last September we had an art themed MacMillans’ coffee morning and raised over £150. But I have had to work to get an audience, even people working in the arts locally can appear loathe to turn up. Perhaps it’s me. I want it to be word of mouth but I’ve introduced incentives - for instance loyalty cards like you get in a cafe, get six stamps and you qualify for a free piece of art up to the value of £10. And like all good sites each show had a password. Playing with the front room theme following shows included a ‘featured artist on a feature wall’, in reality it meant that they got to show on the chimney breast rather than the alcoves, but they have told me it made them feel special.
What has changed since then is that I no longer want it to simply be a nice space in which to hang work, I want the room to be the core, around which the work happens. It will be more theatrical, possibly installation based, I’m intrigued by engagement versus entertainment. For instance a planned future show sees 404 becoming a changing room for protesters prior to their going on a demonstration (I’d Like to Nietzsche the World to Sing). They/guests change into a slogan-ed hi viz/battle jacket, change footwear and pick up a placard prior to changing the world (protest as a leisure activity). This could then turn into a march to local shops or else guests mingle in the garden in their new camouflage. Another planned show is to run two contrasting shows concurrently, like an art battle, or a domestic. We’ll see, but just hanging pictures on white walls now seems somewhat passive aggressive. Perhaps my most extreme idea imagines walking into the room to be like walking into the edge of a crop circle, but I need to figure out how to grow wheat or barley in a suburban living room. And therein lies the challenge.
As for the future I’d also quite like to do exchanges with other small/home spaces, they come and do something here and I go and do something there. Places on the (South) coast would be encouraged to join in. But one thing I have realised is that no matter how good the work is it’s good to work with nice, positive people - everything is so much easier!
Instagram: 404projectspace / FB: 404space / www.404space.org / www.variousartistisdead.org / email: bauwowhaus@yahoo.co.uk
Recommended web site for on-line lectures and artist connections: https://consciousisolation.wixsite.com/consciousisolation
All change ... Author Zoe Crockford
Back in March my life as an emerging artist was looking extremely promising. I had recently had a solo show and from that I had several opportunities to sell and exhibit work. The list was looking healthy and I had decided to go part time with my day job, create a ceramics studio in my garage and get going. In the space of two weeks everything was thrown on its head and like many artists, I found myself adrift.
The massive shift and diversification that has happened over the last few months has seen more emphasis on artists selling and exhibiting via the internet, Instagram being a leader in the art field. But now that things are crawling back to normal how can we as makers re-engage with our audience in a face to face setting? Regardless of how desperate we are to see and be seen, the internet is going to be our strongest tool so having a strong online profile is key.
Back in the real world you need to create a space where you can set up a mini exhibition, display, photo studio where you can showcase your new work. This might only be a corner of a table or patch of clear floor space. A plain background is ideal but why fight the chaos of the kitchen/bookshelf/spare room. This is what we are all dealing with so to pretend otherwise seems insane. I would strongly recommend investing in a small tripod if you are taking photos, filming yourself or a making process. Being brave and including yourself in your online presence works. I am really bad at this but trust me, if you are selling, it will work. People like to see the artist, it makes them feel connected.
Recently there has been a move to exhibit outside, in driveways, on garden walls and pavements. This is a phenomenal idea and if your online following is responsive, easy to publicise. Beware of hidden costs with group exhibitions however. Forty pounds to show your work in your own driveway is not something I can justify and at a time when we are all very money conscious does not feel supportive to the overall cause of artistic recovery. There is also the added risk of poor weather but then I would much rather stand in the rain outside my home than in a street market fifty miles from my kitchen and the kettle.
Taking part in online exhibitions is a way to boost morale and keep you motivated. Having been turned down for a couple I had submitted to and feeling very rejected and unloved, I decided to run my own exhibition. Why not join forces with other artist friends for a group show with a live streaming private view.
Whether you are keen to sell work or just share what you have been making, now is the perfect time to take a leap of faith and promote yourself from the safety of your own home
Instagram @zoe_cord_frock
Rainbow Garden in Lockdown ... Author Fi Hill
After a short breather at the end of my MA in Fine Art, Lockdown arrived.
Luckily I’d bought seeds and potting compost for the garden already as I’d promised myself I’d restore it after 4 years in full-time education. I had a sneaky feeling food chains could be compromised later on, so I sowed seeds in recycled mushroom crates and my partner of 20 years, (an artist/ printmaker/teacher in his own right) and I, worked round the garden, making raised beds from wood saved from a local demolished dance studio and stored under a tarp for a couple of years, still surprisingly solid.
Days and days of heavy digging, soil moving and compost filling; going to bed aching, waking
up aching, with a pervasive feeling somewhere between terror and being on a retreat. I rose early each morning, had a quick wash and, creeping so as not to wake the rest of the household or the dog, took my large mug of tea out into the garden to breathe it all in and work out a to-do list for the day…
I developed a ‘Mediterranean-style’ work schedule; eating a quick tuna/mayo wrap for lunch in the shade and some days, treating myself to a siesta-refresher, which meant I could carry on gardening into the cool of the evening, except I was forced to don ski trousers to save myself from mosquito attack!
I planted out blue potatoes, courgettes, runner beans (purple, yellow and stringless), patty pan squashes and small orange pumpkins. My daughter planted peas, radishes, sweet peas, salad leaves, and having never grown them before, my partner came back from the weekly shop at the Coop with a large tray of beefsteak tomatoes.
The garden tethered our hearts and minds in the uncertain and constantly changing early
weeks of Lockdown. We had each other and our resourcefulness and enough to get by; we were ok. I imagined we were on a working holiday, struggling to recall which day of the week we were at; it’s Thursday! – a quick dash out to the front gate with
whatever we could grab on the way that would make enough noise to clap the NHS…
As the plants grew, through hot dry days and touch-n-go frosty nights, my planting plan started to fill out; the beans climbed bamboo canes cobbled together from 2 short ones. I used blue water pipe (allotment-style) to emphasise the bean support structures, looped wire and coloured plastic balls (saved for years because I knew they’d be handy at some point) and neon threads to ward off sparrows (last spring they descended and ate all the bean flowers over two days)…
Then, one sunny morning, it was ready to be photographed. The garden had kept us busy, saved our sanity, provided a retreat, a ‘test space’ and an outside studio. I had made a living installation for the first time, appreciating the pressure garden designers must work under and realising I make my installations in a similar way.
http://www.neonfi.co.uk
Next issue is the conceptual issue
For the next issue we explore how you have tackled conceptual issues within your work.
We need
1. An image of the work (you can submit multiple entries, one form per entry please) 2. Three short sentences of how you created the work, what was the concept and how you overcame any challenges. 3. Your web and Instagram account. Deadline 8/8/20
Apply here
https://www.curatorspace.com//opportunities/detail/hausarest-zine-and-instagram--issue---the-conceptual-art-issue/4645
