25/04/2018 - JIC INSTALL (+simple risk assessment)

On the day of the install at the John Innes Centre, I had luckily arranged for Joel to help in taking my piece along with his. This meant that I was able to get it there with no risk of damage, and only had to carry my piece the short distance from the car into the centre.
My piece had ended up being quite a bit bigger than intended, and because of this I had let go of any specific ideas about where the work could be placed. Instead I wanted to take the piece and try it in variety of locations and see which spoke to me most. I tried it provisionally in the library space at first, but couldn't find a position which was both correctly illuminated and secure, as the piece was quite heavy and needed to be in a secure location above all else. This was a bit of a shame, as one of the key emphasis of my work is accessibility, and I knew the library space would allow the largest number of people to see my works as possible. However if the work would be unable to come across correctly in this environment, or be a potential hazard, I knew I would have to forsake this consideration.

In light of potential hazards, I had filled out a very basic risk assessment, just to show consideration towards this as a good housekeeping measure as this was my only confirmed exposition in an actual establishment, and I thought it would be good practice. The outcome of the assessment was low risk, and I fully intended to ensure the piece was installed in an entirely safe and risk free way.


Firstly within the rare books archive I tried placing the work on the long shelf which ran along the edge of the entire room for presenting books and documents. As soon as my work was within the setting of the archive it came alive, as it had been specifically inspired by the space and artefacts within, and I knew this was the best place for the work instead of the clinical educational environment of the library, as much as I would've liked it to be more accessible.

However from this position, especially leant back against the supporting wall, the mirror was much to high to see anyone in, and instead reflected the view of the ceiling which really detracted from the important element. So I would have to find somewhere lower.

Next I tried along the same book shelf as the patron pieces were presented, this position was nice because it allowed the piece to sit as head of the entire space, and be seen well from the entire length of the room. However the lip they stood on was not really substantial enough to garauntee it's safety once more, and I had to decide against this position after taking a few pictures.

There was one spot beside the bell jar and microscope I had directly been inspired by which looked absolutely perfect to host my work. However in the time I had been trialling other options, Filipe had put his small green canvas on one of the only two wall hooks in the entire room, both of which were situated on the wall.
This conflicted me slightly as I couldn't help but feel as space within the archive was so limited, to take up an entire feature wall for one small piece which could've practically gone in a variety of other positions, was arguably not the most effective use of the space. However it made a greater statement out of Filipe's piece, and I gently probed as to whether he was particularly sold on that place for his work. When he told me he was, I made the executive descision not to push this any futher. Because we were co-curating and collaborating as a group on the delivery of this project, and all other elements of the install were going so well, I did not want to start the debate about whose deserved to go where, as I had been busy experimenting with other ideas induvidually instead of communicating my uncertainties with the group and planning my options.

Instead, I simply asked if I could take a picture of it in the space to show what it would've looked like, and he agreed. I really liked how this work looked in this position, however the idea of collaboration is being able to support one anothers working into new directions and angles, so even though this would have perhaps been the most contextually supported position for the work, surrounded by microscope and bell jar, I was happy to accept that this could not be the case in order to make room to showcase the work of another.

I then tried my work in the final possible place, which I had great hope for. Beside Sarah's computer, to the side of the bookcases where the patron portraits were displayed. I thought this location would work, as it was slightly lower than the surrounding shelf around the rest of the room, and was very wide and safe to lean the work against.
The only small issue I had was that it was quite tucked away in the corner, facing away from most of the room, and the prescence of the computer so close by kind of shattering the surrounding timeless environment of the archive. However this position also emphasised the link between my work and the pieces which I drew inspiration from so heavily.

I was also, with Kryzstof's help, able to position a light from the other side of the room so that it beamed directly onto the piece. This also produced an interesting effect so that, when coming very close to the work, light actually bounced through the mirror to illuminate the onlookers face, exposing their features slightly and lighting them as if they were truly sitting for a portrait.

One other small detail I was really pleased with were the information plaques created by Cameron with help from Emilia, from the information we all sent in. I thought they looked incredibly professional with the angle cut edges to give a floating appearence, and really contributed to the archival nature of the setting with a formal and professional yet very interesting finish. They also tied all the pieces together perfectly into a single cohesive body of work, the black circles providing a clever subtle visual marker, denoting the pieces in the exhibition apart from other artefacts and imagery on display.

Overall I was very happy with the way the install had gone. I had been able to trial my work in a wide variety of situations and although there was one area I had particularly liked initially, I changed my mindset to think collaboratively and instead found an alternative solution to the problem which allowed all parties to be happy with the display of their work.

I was incredibly satisfied with how well my work integrated into the setting of the archive. Careful consideration of imagery, themes and context of the time of the work displayed within meant that, especially when displayed alongside them, clear links between the work and the surrounding environment were obvious. Although none of our works in the space were collaborative, I felt my personal collaboration had been with the institution and topic itself, as I had allowed my practice to be greatly affected and driven by my influences and findings as part of the experience.