In January 2020 Bath Spa Year 2 received a task to curate our work at the university’s premises. The work should be presented in a professional manner demonstrating the ability to work effectively as a team, to manage our time and being able to respond to the session.
As we were divided into groups, our group brainstormed some ideas and decided to create a family portrait wall like exhibition which would showcase our group’s students portrait photographs taken within these two academic years. After having shared our vision, we created a timeline and split tasks:
Timeline:
Wednesday - by tomorrow prepare 6-8 portrait photos (digital or printed) which you think you’d like to exhibit. If these are printed - provide the measurements.
Friday - let’s stay for an hour, prepare what to print out. Check if you have any frames at home, measure them. Task: statement of intent + name of the exhibition
Weekend - come up with a digital layout
Monday - all printed, all props ready
Tuesday - installation
All the group members uploaded their preferred images onto a google drive out of which a specific amount would have been picked for the exhibition.
After having seen and measured the exhibition place, the photographs got shared with the group.
It was important to measure the exhibit area in order to plan all the images and their position.
To recreate the living room environment and provide the homely feel to the exhibition, we have decided to add additional props, namely an armchair, a coffee table and a table lamp. Each photo, like on the family wall, would be framed, to recreate the homely feel.
To start planning the photographs arrangements, first, it was important to measure all the frames from the outside, as well as the visible area inside. Next, the exhibition area wall was reproduced on InDesign in order to position the chosen images and visualise them.
After having confirmed with the group that everyone was happy with the layout, the measurements for each photograph were provided, in order to fit each image into an appropriate frame. Each member had to resize their own image and upload on google drive ready by to be printed the day before the exhibition.
Meanwhile, another member of the group had designed a range of posters. The group then discusses which one would be picked to market our exhibition. The chosen poster was also printed together with the exhibited images.
Proposed exhibition poster designs
The chosen exhibition marketing poster design
On the day of the exhibition after having picked up the printed photographs everyone headed to the Sion Hill to install the images on the wall.
In order to install the printed photographs, first, they had to be placed into the frames. This was a time-consuming job. All the frames had been gathered throughout the time from various charity shops. Many of them required to be opened and unsealed in order to place the print inside. Below are the images of the group’s installation process.
The framing process had been marked in order to track the framed images.
Meanwhile, some team members placed the posters around the Sion Hill campus, as well as the Loksbrook Campus, as well as shared the poster on the social media platform.
The completed wall installation can be seen below. The statement of intent, written by a group member, has also been displayed alongside the photographs and the marketing poster.
Statement of Intent.
This exhibition seeks to explore the familiarity of a busy wall in a family home filled with framed snapshot of their lives. In place of the family portraits, we see a number of portraits from various photographers that provide an insight into their different lives and practices.
Exhibition installation reflection. After having taken the leading role within the group, it was essential to distribute the roles. Each member had a task to write the statement of intent, create a poster design, prepare and bring props, contribute during the installation process. The group was responsive and easy to co-operative with. We all were open to suggestions and had no conflicts during the process.
As with any group work, as a leader, I had to ensure that we would meet the deadlined. It was important to remind all the group members to complete their tasks on time and be clear regarding the consequences. I also had to ensure that I would predict any inconsistencies and think ahead of anything that would not go according to plan.
We have taken quite a challenging task of framing all the images. This had proven to be very time consuming. Nevertheless, we managed to complete the task. In the future, I will ensure that all the frames are numbered. On the day I discovered that I was not sure which print to place in an appropriate frame.
Although we have ensured we had our own tools and materials, I will definitely consider and test the materials that need to be used for installation. During the process we discovered that our nails were too thin and weak for the chosen wall. We had to take action and go to the DIY store to purchase stronger masonry wall nails.
There were a few challenging situations with a couple of group members who were not able to fulfil their obligations and produce the prints according to the specified size due to lack of software knowledge. In the future, I would designate a person responsible for checking and adjusting all printing/editing side of photography. That way it will ensure that the designated person, knowledgable in editing software, would be able to assist others.
To summarise, we have successfully worked as a team and managed to complete the task up to the anticipated standard. We were able to communicate and negotiate our ideas without challenges and succeeded and working as a team.