Two full days. A short morning working on the 3D layout of Nantwich Museum yesterday. The original measurements didn't add up, but these were confirmed to be correct, so I bent the angles of the plan to fit. Most of yesterday was shopping, the first long day of this in months.
Lots of small jobs today, starting with the launch of a sale of Radioactive, and another sound effect release on itch. The main job was the layout for Neorenaissance.
I have so much I could show that the choices were a little overwhelming, I'd like to say yes to everything. I've had past exhibitions at The Cubby Hole which were strongly themed. How I loved those and how I miss that great venue. The Seventh Circle, where the venue was divided into heaven and hell in opposite rooms, was great fun and we dressed up as gods or devils or saints.
This time the theme is generally the eclectic, and it is basically a mix of all of my artwork: old, new, simple sketches, complex masterpieces, 2D work, 3D work, and lots of different media by myself and invited artists. So I've had to avoid showing a lot and there is never enough room for everything. The general plan is clockwise in chronological order. There will be some 3D work in glass cabinets, and I'll show my sketchbook for the first time, with ideas visible and the finished paintings.
Stockport is more like an art gallery than a museum, but Nantwich Museum is more like a museum, a learning environment, which makes me consider things like message and education more, but my art isn't academic and I don't like the pretentions of that art world. Academic art, art colleges, exist to train artisans to create work to a specific brief and budget for public bodies and corporate clients, a profession like architects. This 'art' is not ever the culture it aspires to be. At the same time, I've got so much work that I think I should display as much of its range as possible in this popular space, and an exhibition that is general, broad, wide in range, will match my creative output, at least a little, so this exhibition will be something, however small, of a retrospective. This is perhaps also appropriate for my local museum.
Doing this made me realise that my filing system might need updating. All of my exhibitions, and everything I show or enter into a competition, has been recorded in a file each year. In 2018 I decided to create a second master index of 'events' and performances. Now I think I need to merge the two, so one file lists every exhibition and competition and everything that happened at or in it. This will be weeks of work but will save time in the long run.
This came to light when I lost my Jabberwocky drawings. I drew a triptych of work some time ago, and last showed these at the 'Relics' exhibition in Chester. I can't remember seeing these since, but have a vague memory of seeing them framed. Storing and keeping track of every artwork is so difficult. Memory is inadequate; everything must be carefully recorded and stored in a logical system.
So, my jobs are to update this filing system, then add the 20-or-so Amiga games to itch, plan the Neorenaissance layout and artists and events involved, master a live CD of our Wonderland show, record the 40-50 SY-85 tracks from the 90s onto a new album, list all 50 or so of the IndieSFX sound effect sets on itch, and make the new frames for the two paintings for The Discerning Eye. It will be a busy two weeks.
