Test week at KARST

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Over the first 5 days of April my MA year group had use of the main gallery space in KARST to test our work. Along with critiques, tutorials & an interim assessment we used the space to spread out our work, experiment & begin to see the dialogue that our work has together. This preparation has been valuable for our future exhibition & allows us time to see what we have done so far, edit our work & make more.

For myself it was the best space to bring all of the elements of my work together & spread out with it in order to begin forming ideas about how to use the materials. Much of the Monarflex material I have collected is very long, over 20m in some cases, so it has not been possible to work effectively with it so far. In KARST there was enough space & time to really develop my practice in using this long flexible material. I went into the gallery space with the idea of having a hanging element to the work & a folded/pleated floor based element. I don’t have specific ways to hang or place my work, it is very much is a response to the space. So there is always a slight apprehension when going into a new space as there may not be many architectural features to hang or anchor the straps & hooks that are used to hold the work in the space. Having been to KARST many times for exhibitions I was very aware of square pillars in the centre of the space, which are the only feature that I knew I could use.

Once all of my materials had been moved into the space on that first day & it had been worked out where the work would be set up I could start to plan. There I could see that on the ceiling running at regular intervals throughout the entire space were anchor points embedded into the concrete. Strong metal handles that allowed for some exciting experimentation. My modes of display are with bungee chords, ratchet straps & hooks so the pillars & ceiling hooks provided the perfect interior for installing & testing my work.

Day 1

  • Each piece of Monarflex was laid out & sorted into length order.

  • A mid length piece was suspended from the ceiling using bungee chords & ratchet straps.

  • Medium & short length pieces were folded & pleated along the ground.

  • 6 of the 103 sandbags were filled.

Day 2

  • Some fine tuning of the suspended work was made. Adjusting the tension of the ratchets & bungees.

  • Larger rolls & pleats of Monarflex were made.

  • Rubble bags were hung in the space on a ratchet strap but the form wasn’t right for the work so was made back in to a bundle.

Day 3

  • More work was done on folds & pleats.

  • A Group Critique with Chris Cook. Raised points were about the placement of the work on the floor, the making of the rolls verses pleats & how the work can be made without making it seem like a shelter or a cover.

Day 4

  • Tutorial with Ben Borthwick. Points about the lightness of the suspended material & the form it was taking. The suspension, tension & undulations of the material feel breezy. There is a certain flow & movement of the work on the ceiling that is exciting & is working well.

Day 5

  • Interim Assessment with Anya Lewin & Josie Cockram. The main things I took from this conversation was the rhythm of the installed work & its success in the space. Also that the various elements of the work can exist in the same exhibition but they could work separately within a space.

  • Documentation was taken of the work & the space.