The exhibition is open! I’ve spent the last three days supervising the exhibition at the Informatic Centre, ECA and Wester Hailes. I have enjoyed observing people engaging with the outcome of months of work.
Due to the nature of the space, many people felt a bit awkward in sitting down to watch Winnie’s work. An indication of the duration of the video could have helped. Some visitors also raised concerns about the audio. In a small space like TG, it could get quite overwhelming for neurodivergent visitors. Other pointed out that it was just hard to follow due to the initial lack of subtitles and reduced audio quality- later corrected.
Visitors responded as we imagined to Joey and Keira’s work: many recognised specific photos or areas and were quite keen to share with us their stories and memories connected to it.
Visitors’ feedback taught us that Lucas’ manifesto and facilitator’s notes were appreciated as artworks on their own even by those who did not attend the performance: all of Lucas’ printed materials were taken. While Lucas’ walk sold out, many did not show up. In a follow-up meeting, we agreed that marketing and ticketing of SoPC walks is something to improve for further performances.
It’s been surprising how many people have submitted their responses to the Living Archive. Younger audiences felt very confident in taking the tablet to submit their works. With other visitors- mainly elders- we had some lovely conversations which they were happy for us to capture in the form of word clouds and feature as submissions.
I think that we were successful in creating a Living Archive primarily by being in the space encouraging submissions, and by displaying them in real-time through the tablet which sparked further curiosity and engagement. Secondly, the content of the submissions proved that our curatorial framework was balanced as most people did not ask for mansions or luxurious homes- except for three lovely kids. Most people, such as a lady who had experienced homelessness and lived in a council home, when asked about their ‘dream home’ responded: ‘The one I have.’ When asked follow-up questions then people dreamt about more community-oriented housing structures, connected to nature and self-sustaining.
