Wellcome Collection

I had long been wanting to visit the Wellcome Collection and we decided to head down there to check out the Identity exhibition, this was interesting in how we construct identities and the efforts we undertake to make an impact on the course of the world. This exhibition, although a great source of interesting facts and case studies, was no where near as AMAZING as what was waiting upstairs in the permanent collection.

Henry Wellcome (pictured) was a pretty interesting chap himself, who built up a monumental collection of objects on the history of medicine and man, with strong interests in anthropology and ethnography. The subject matter varies hugely and ranges from stuff like alchemy to witchcraft in what can only be described as a cabinet of curiosities (or Wunnderkammer).


It is the most relevant exhibition to our project I think we could hope to find, the relics on offer not only pay tribute to different belief systems in their sometimes obscure, obscene and fantastical nature; but also pay tribute to a true visionary character in Henry Wellcome. If the downstairs gallery exhibition concentrated on 8 identities, the upstairs, through the fake limbs, mummified bodies, bosch paintings and medical instruments explores the identity of the original collector. It is this narrative through the collection and research of extraordinary objects and beliefs that is a model of the highest relevance to how we will conduct our own research and convey a sense of character through it all together.

We will be returning to the Wellcome collection library which houses many more texts, photographs and research  that we didn't have a chance to explore on this original visit. Below is an animation made by the Brothers Quay that explores and documents many of the items in the collection to get a sense of what is on offer... enjoy.

Animate Projects - The Phantom Museum - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Website???

One of the things I think would really benefit us would be a website, not only for promoting our major project but also displaying our previous work. One resource that we could send people to, to see all our work and our intentions for major etc. This could help us in finding a space and promoting our work at a later date, this would also meet the requirements for our Professional Launchpad module in a useful application of the brief.

This is something I would like to explore in these early stages of production, it may not be accomplishable in the time available currently.

Public liability insurance

We always knew we would need insurance to cover our use of the space in allowing it to be open to the public as we planned, it was clearly one of the biggest concerns for the councils who got back to us so I tracked down Andy Powell who informed us of the third-party public liability insurance of the university that will cover our project and anyone who enters it.

This is fantastic news, not only is it free but it is also hassle free and has a cover letter available on blackboard we can now attach to emails to show we are serious, professional and organised. 

Thanks to the university we are covered for up to £30,000,000 with a £250 excess, this should help us secure a space. We will have to be really careful with the type of materials and electronics involved to keep everything safe but things will get a little crazy i'm sure...

Responses to Emails

We have received a good amount of responses from our first wave of emails, including some positive feedback from our previous work which was nice (most of these can be seen on Andy's blog HERE and HERE). Despite this, there is only really one response that looks pretty promising in securing a space through the council avenue. We have secured a viewing with Wandsworth Council for an old derelict chapel just across the river in South London. Its condition means there is no electricity supply but the description of the place sounds exciting (smashed windows, over grown etc). As the space would hopefully be free, buying and running second hand generators which we could sell on should easily fit within our budget for the location.

This could be a really great opportunity, the viewing isn't until march 9th so we will continue the search until we know any further details, it is by no means certain we could secure it.

One of the things that has been coming out of these emails is the strong interest in our insurance and liability cover, we will need to arrange this in order to secure a rental on a place, especially through the councils as it is one of their most prominent concerns.

Kinetica Art Fair

Kinetica Art Fair was a major influence in our work last year and helped introduce us to the technology involved in our projects, I went again this year with a much better understanding of the type of work involved and the problems with it. I am much more sure of the work I like and the work I dislike now, a lot of the work proved to be more of a spectacle than interesting but there were some standout pieces that really I really enjoyed.

 

 

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All these pieces were particularly relevant to the work we are doing in some way, Nik Ramage's boot kicking the wall piece is really similar in style and nature to one of the machines we had planned... although ours will be kicking a bucket of reflective water with a microphone submerged but it is a good reference point visually. Other work involving projections and extravagant movement were also useful to check out / evaluate mechanisms and methods. I will research the artists that proved most relevent to our project in more depth from Kinetica to contextualise our own work further.

Contacting councils and organisations for help in finding a space

Following on from our initial plans to find an alternative space to build the installation in, it is clear that the earliest approaches need to be to the councils and other collectives / organisations that we believe have the potential to assist us.

We sat down together after the major project briefing session and kicked off this process by drafting emails to all of the major councils and collectives deemed potentially productive.

These included:

Hackney Council
Tower Hamlets Council
Wandsworth Coucil
Lambeth Council
Camden Council
Brent Council
Southwark Council
Lewisham Council
www.measure.org.uk

Each email was individualised and gave a basic summary of our intentions and requirements. We mostly accessed the council through their arts / culture divisions and are now awaiting replies!

Pre-production feedback and reflection

Having received feedback on our pre-production processes and subsequent dossier, it has given me a much greater sense of confidence in the project we have devised and in what we are trying to achieve; now we need to do everything we can to build upon this and develop the project further.

One of the criticisms highlighted in the feedback was the hesitancy in some of our responses during the oral assessment, I feel as the project develops and we get further into the production phase, this confidence in our decision making will improve massively. Making decisions within the group dynamic we have established, has in the past, been extremely beneficial to the final work. When we spend more and more time on the project in the coming months and a physicality to the initial ideas is obtained, I feel confident we will make the right decisions and take the right actions en route to the final piece.