neither here nor there: the show

Boy, was I looking forward to Thanksgiving this year and I was not disappointed. Earlier in the semester I wasn't even sure I'd be able to get away, the holiday weekend being the last before installation would begin for my thesis show. But as the holiday approached I had more and more accomplished so that by the time Thursday rolled around, I was actually able to relax and do little more than eat every couple of hours for two full days. My sister-in-law did most of the cooking and she really outdid herself. Two different kinds of stuffing, two vegetable casseroles, possibly the creamiest mashed potatoes I've ever had, about half-a-dozen desserts, chocolate lollipops that looked like turkeys on our plates, and even a blob of butter fashioned into the likeness of the turkey we were about to devour.

I even had the weekend to finish up some lingering details and rent a truck that ended up being way too big for my 25 tubes, five or six rolls of painted paper, and a couple of boxes of other stuff.


But at least I got everything there this morning and helped a fellow artist with some of her installation materials. Day one was short since I had my last class this afternoon, but so far, so good. Just dropping stuff off and getting comfortable in my space felt pretty great.


Surreal at first, since I've been to most of the eight or so thesis shows in the Tufts galleries over the last two and a half years. Anyway, all I did today was lay out my paper, spread out my tubes, and start in on the hardware.


I'll be there again all day tomorrow and from 9 in the morning 'til 9 in the evening on Wednesday (and I'll try to keep up the daily updates leading up to the opening on Thursday). We have a few hours on Thursday as well, before the opening reception begins at 5:30, but right now I have this fantasy that I'll be finished by Wednesday night so that on Thursday I can sleep in, maybe do a little yoga, take my time getting ready, and finalize my artist statement, which I've yet to begin. In a related fantasy I steal an undergrad's statement I read sometime last semester, which went a little something like this: "It is what it is. And what it isn't, it probably will be someday." Somehow, I don't think that'll fly for this show.

Oh, and by the way, the title has actually evolved over the last couple of months from the title of this series of blog posts to the following phrase I pulled from my various thesis-related readings: what lies between here and there. I was concerned that the expression "neither here nor there" would suggest a nonchalance I don't feel is terribly justified, after spending the last six months working almost exclusively on this project. As one of my thesis advisers cautioned, "You should care." And I do.