This is a sketch of a quick exhibition that I painted.
Method one is to use a non-marking hook to hammer into the candle box that is to go on the wall. Then hang on the nails that turn into the wall. But after a taste of hanging. After trying it out, I found that the candle boxes were heavy and the non-marking nails were too thin to hold the weight.
So we tried method 2 with a professional picture hook fixed to the back of the box with thick screws. It was then hung on the nails that were turned into the wall. Considering the weight of the case there was still a risk that it would fall off. So after considering the distance between the top and bottom of the case measured four thick long screws could be nailed to leave out half of the weight to bear the weight. After trying this method it was very stable. So I overcame a lot of instability to make this piece perfect.
As an art academic student that every step of this project has been a learning curve. This includes the installation. I laid out the drawings on the floor and considered the smooth transition from floor to wall. If I learned one thing from setting up the exhibition, it was that things change often. It was my mentor who explained to me in detail and helped me understand how my installation would look best on the gallery floor. It is best to absorb such advice. Since planning the execution of a piece, no matter what its scale, is one of those things I take very seriously, it was natural for me to step back and carefully work out the next few steps. The strings linking several installations were difficult to secure to in a controlled manner. In order to make them secure and unobtrusive. I took the advice of a fellow exhibition artist and used double sided tape to fix them to the bottom of the candle box. A perfect solution to this problem.
Burnt paintings are materials that require delicate handling, especially on this scale. A portion of the ashes from the burnt textile material remained attached to the wood panels and could have torn off during the installation process. For this and the installation procedure, I discussed it with the technicians on site and we quickly devised a way to transfer the installation to the exhibition location in the safest way possible.
I regularly learn the most from the technicians. Even before coming here for this course, the tutors and technicians often taught me the basic considerations for dealing with transporting artworks.
I have prepared several transport options to ensure that they are not damaged during transport and set-up. Firstly, I chose to use thicker foam paper to wrap the edges of the boards during transport to the gallery. The paintings inside the core of the panels were also protected with foam paper.
The wax on the artwork was very fragile during the set-up process and the binding could break, so to avoid this I discussed with the curatorial professionals and decided to install the installation separately so that the other parts would not be knocked. Due to the weight of the installation itself it took me several attempts and with the help of my peers I managed to hang the candle phase which was the most difficult to secure to the wall.
As well as the hanging and arrangement of the exhibits, the lighting of the exhibition was also an important set up. For example, I needed to set up two different beams of light for this piece. One is a top light beam, which is directed at the candle boxes hung on the wall. The second beam is a diffused light that shines directly down from the top. This light is intended to allow the viewer to see the details of the installation and the subtle light that the strings will emit in the light. In a perfect exhibition lighting is key to the atmosphere and different works require different lighting, so this is not to be overlooked.
Observing the viewer's senses is also a learning experience in the artist's artistic career.
The response and behaviour of the viewer to your work. As well as their response to certain aspects of the painting, the viewer's response is how I want them to react to it.
Some of them started with the whole and then looked closely at the strings in the middle, looked vertically at the direction of the wax drips, and looked at the paintings hidden in the burnt textiles. I received a lot of feedback from people in this exhibition, some giving me more inspirational advice, others telling me how to improve my approach. I can't deny that this has taught me how to create a complete visual experience in my future work.
ZENG