what lies between the opening and the review

The show is now open and has officially been received. The reception went well. I found a glittery gold sweater to match my glittery gold water globes and a black and gold and lace skirt I've had for years but never worn. I even found matching shoes and a little clutch purse. The first half-hour or so was slow, but after about 6 p.m. there was a steady stream of visitors, including lots of local friends I'd sent invites to.

And the installation held up for what will probably prove to be the majority of overall attendance to the show. The main surprise of the night was how interactive visitors were with the piece, even in areas where interaction was not my intention or goal. There was one guy in particular who brought his toddler over about four or five times to watch him weave through the paper columns. People couldn't seem to help themselves from touching the columns and lifting the water globes.




Had I known gallery visitors would feel so emboldened as to touch the art, I might have considered making the globes more intentionally interactive. I did invite them to take a set of postcards and pose for a portrait in front of my recreation of the Parthenon, which is why the image above was originally taken (and only later revealed evidence of interaction where I didn't necessarily want it). In fact, this image was taken by this couple's daughter, unbeknownst to me, standing at that moment just a few feet away from my camera, which was set up on a tripod. Okay, glitter globes are pretty irresistible, I'll admit, but I can't imagine walking up to a camera on a tripod in the middle of a gallery and starting to snap away. I have to admit, I was a little annoyed, but she did take a pretty fabulous shot. You can see all 18 images on my Flickr page. For more images of the installation itself, check out the newly updated thesis section of my website. You can even download and read my full statement, if you're into that kinda thing.

The thesis show activity will continue tomorrow evening with my final committee review and a gallery talk with the artists on Thursday at 6 p.m. If you're local and wanted to know more about a particular artist's work, you should attend. I've only done one gallery artists' talk before and the audience was made up almost exclusively of other artists in the show and a couple of friends and significant others.