how to access work: the best part of doing this review task was getting to see some of the many exhibitions i have been wanting to see but hadn’t got around to. i wasn’t sure what way to wanted to tackle this task but as i visited these exhibitions i became more interested in how i could access the work – what was helping or hindering me from understanding the work on a physical or conceptual level.
the exhibitions: the exhibitions that i looked at include Derek Jarman’s ‘Protest’ Retrospective in IMMA, Kurt Opperman’s ‘Pink Bulldozer’ at the RHA and ‘Desire’ a group exhibition at IMMA.
refelction – some questions: the exhibition reviews raised many questions about how i access or understand work of other, also raising similar questions about what decisions i make in the public placement of my own work. conceptually: how willing i am to access work? i think sometimes i am lazy and don’t spend time either before or at the exhibition looking into or reading about the work. should i need to? is it the responsibility of the curator to provide this information, should the work speak for itself and not require additional information? i bring my own reading to the work – would it be further enriched by additional information. if so, what is the best way – wall statements, brochure, online guide etc? physically: so many aspects of the exhibition’s physicality and layout brings a bearing to how work is accessed and understood – work sequence according to theme or biographical time, spaces to be alone with the work or cluttered with other people or artworks, rules about making contact with the work – touching or not touching, taking photos or not taking, work in boxes behind ropes etc, work to be entered, interacted with, changed in some way etc.
further reflection: in particular, i was struck by the the potential of projection and monitor to influence the reading of lens based work. this is very relevant to my own lens-based work and something i could experiment with to see how they translate in different forms of projection or monitor. another aspect of exhibition which i became more aware of was the use (or not) of a frame for 2d work. again, this is very relevant to my own work and the gendered pictorial framing of landscape – another area to explore.
elaine crowe 
Leave a Reply