Artventure: Fredericton, NB Part 3

On Wednesday morning I decided which pieces would go on which plinths and started the involved process of plinth Tetris in the large central space of the gallery.

By noon I was mostly satisfied with the placement of the work.  John and Tom were making four new plinths for me and would arrive at the gallery in the early afternoon so I could sand and paint them.  I still had a couple of hours to kill so I prepped labels, had lunch, and was able to adjust lighting for a few of the wall pieces before Tom and John arrived with the beautiful new plinths they’d made.  Knowing that the raw MDF would need several coats of paint I took a break from lighting, quickly sanded, and got that first coat on.

Sophia popped in around 4:00pm to see how I was getting on and if I could take a break.  I didn’t feel like I was far enough along so I sadly declined.

[Lighting sculpture can be a tricky business, and a real time suck.  You need to be conscious of how the lighting is working outside of the piece it is illuminating, making sure lights aren’t glaring into viewer’s eyes as they navigate through the exhibit.]

We chatted a bit, and then thinking about my disappointing supper the previous night I asked her if she knew of any places where I could get a good, hot meal.  Sophia invited me for supper, and told me to give her a call when I was finished. 🙂

Between coats of paint I printed labels and got a good portion of the lighting done while John and Tom built a post-supported shelf along the brick wall to display People In My Neighbourhood.

At 8:00pm, I felt comfortable enough with the progress I made to knock off for the evening; I had one more piece to install (Chestnut Complex along the half wall), the labels to affix, and about a third of the lighting left to finish.  The opening wasn’t until tomorrow evening and I was confident I could wrap up the installation by tomorrow afternoon.  I called Sophia, prepared to tell her that I had worked later than I’d estimated and that I was sorry I’d missed dinner.  Turns out they hadn’t started eating yet so she told me to come right over.

I was exhausted by my long day, but so glad that I went.  It was nice to have fresh vegetables and lentil burgers.  The company was great, too: Sophia, her partner Noah, and their friends Crystal and Sayso.  Vibrant and intelligent conversation was just what I needed after spending so much time inside my own head, mulling over the installation.

Tomorrow: Fredericton, NB Part 4