What I See: What We See – constructed Wednesday the 8th of August
Jill and I were both separately asked to submit a proposal for InSite 12, we quickly decided however that together, given that we were allowed around 4 hours to construct the work, we could carry out our ideas to their fullest and construct something large and striking. Together, we would not have to compromise on scale or materials. Jill and I collaborate well, our joint effort on this project being one of the major successes in my eyes.
Working within the constraints set out by Craftspace we produced the idea for this adaptable installation piece. The constraints included – 4-5 hours construction time over one afternoon, no damage to the site in any way and the piece was required to be site specific. Jill and I considered each aspect in the earliest stages of our discussions.
Pigeon Park was a great location, full of life and the comings and goings of Birmingham. We had been correct in our findings from Google Maps and the trees were well spaced and leafy. The sun shone and there was a constant thoroughfare of people- it was lovely to have so many people around, interested and interacting with the work.
What struck me when I arrived at PigeonPark, and Jill and I scouted out the ideal location for our installation, was the range and diversity of work being held at InSite 12. Graduates from all over the country, from across the design disciplines were creating work there and it was evident. Now, having looked over what happened on the days following our Wednesday, I still feel the same, it was excellent to be a part of.
What I See: What We See was constructed in a little over 5 hours (we stretched the time limited a bit). The structure of the net went up quite quickly but the knotting took longer than we had anticipated, but it went smoothly with interesting things happening as we put it up. Throughout the construction process people came and chatted, took photographs and fliers and interacted with the work.
In this way the fabric fulfilled its purpose, its aim in that people could see it from across the park and many people came over to ask us what we were doing.
Jill and I are a natural team, the high level of preparation we had done for the day made sure that we completed the structure in time for members of the public to interact with the viewfinders. The flyers were an essential addition as it meant we had a summary of the work in a concise form and we could continue working on the net as people passed by.
Having had a successful trip to Birmingham and two full days of interesting conversation with Jill, we returned to Scotland. The photographs have been developed and uploaded and our next task is to review the photos that have been produced by the installation. What is next for the work? Already some of the photographs stand out as being something special.
Although the installation day itself is over, the work is ongoing with still one camera film to be developed and a whole set of digital photos to be uploaded.
Have a look: https://www.facebook.com/kirkhamodlinginsite