Oh the Grandiose Glory of the "Show"

To recap the plastic fantastic things I've experienced in the past weeks to put on the show going on now, I suppose I should begin with...
Frames.
That was the first major issue, as described in the post below.
The next issue was finding mattes for drawings, and this was relatively easy. After measuring the interior, I found 8x10 inch black mattes (to match the frames) with a 5x7 inch opening for the picture. The problem was that the mattes came with no backing, so I bought separate backing at a different location to finish their presentation.
Next I researched the various ways to laminate, and after having a disastrous experience at Kinkos that melted my mugshots, I found self-stick lamination sheets that didn't require heat. This was difficult because presentation-wise bubbles tend to make themselves known in this particular method and I warred and rampaged against the lamination bubbles until the difference between the heat method and stick method were unnoticeable.
Now printing the big photos were in order, and Costco did the deed. Afterwords I had them vacuumed to poster-board so that the photographs wouldn't ripple in their frames, because in the research and asking around I did I found out that photos sticking against glass is no bueno and will hurt the pictures if there is ANY humidity.
Once this was done, I had to find chains for my mugshots to dangle under the larger frames, and went to all sorts of craft stores and hardware stores, and eventually found some large jewelry chain that fit the bill. Along with the chain I found some tiny metal screws for the bottom of the frames to attach the chained pictures, and this proved a laborious process to meet to completion due to the daintiness of the chain, size of screws in comparison to the drill on hand, and density of the frames.
Oi, the horror.
But all went well, the show is up.
The reception went well, food was prepared for it personally and this was a project all unto itself.

Oh the Glory of Frames....

Frames...
can't live with them, can't live without them.
Unfortunately they are an ugly necessity in the art field, especially when come hail, come rain, come sleet, come snow, the show must go on.
The first issue at hand was determining the type of frame I wanted. My personal preference was wood, and at first, a rustic wood. But looking at the various options, I thought it came across as too corny cowboy. I wanted sleek, elegant, suave, upstanding "gallery" frames... black it was.

The next step was determining the size. There is a conflict in the modern frame/digital photography industry, and that is their formats. Back in the day, frames and camera files were in sync with their dimensions, coinciding for artistic harmony.
This is no longer the case. With a camera format of 16 x 24 and a frame of 16 x 20, a sacrifice must be offered either by crop or cash.

To see what sacrifice to make, I haunted the various stores around town price shopping for frames, and the best deals I came across were at Crafters Warehouse and Michaels.
Crafters Warehouse had a large selection of the type of frames I had in mind, and if I wanted to buy the 16 x 24 custom frames, they would be the cheaper out of the two and nicer quality.
The problem though, was that "cheaper" was still around $1,300 for the frames.
Ouch.

I went back to the drawing board to see what could be done about the photos, and it didn't really affect their visual effectiveness if I cropped them. The difference saved me about $900.
I think it was worth it.

The second issue has been finding an appropriate box for the drawing set I've been working on, and after rummaging around through some antiques, I found an awesome little case that would fit the size of drawings I've been working with(about 8 x 10, including mattes), and has great character of its own.

The next task is to find a place that will laminate my mug shot series, and from research and asking around places, Kinkos is probably going to be my best bet.
We shall see...

But for now, I have seven beautiful black wooden frames in my possession, and that makes me happy.

DAS GALLERY-ness

'


For the term I will detail and experience the process of putting together a show for a gallery.
When one decides to put on a show, the first thing one has to worry about is the pictures.
Little do they know they have to consider space, unity, frames, and all the little nit-picky things that are involved with that process. What I plan to do is produce a body of work, (actually three bodies of work that fit together as one... holy trinity muahahahaha) and put those visuals into a tangible, concrete organized viewing.
The first set of images are the 'Lover' photographs. These will have to first be taken, manipulated, have a size determined, printed, framed, and organized.
The second set of images are the Helga mugshots. These will be taken, manipulated, sized, chained to the first set's frames, and laminated.
The third set of images will be drawings visually articulating the connection the other two sets have to art history in Helga Minelli's mind. These drawings will be researched, related to the 'Lover' series, preliminarily drawn, final drafted, matted, then placed in a box which will be on display on a low pedestal.
My term's work is to do all the little stuff outside of actually taking the pictures.
Today my little task is to turn in gallery papers contracting the show. Then I will measure the gallery walls I have been assigned, and determine what best option I have for sizing my images.
Later, aside from all of the little stuff previously described with the image making, there will be refreshment duty, advertising duty, and many other duties I have yet to discover. The beauty of it all though, is that it will all be documented here.

My timeline is a week before the show goes up, which is November 22nd-Dec. 10th, so November 11th.
Today's deadline is the contract with the art department.
There will be more deadlines, but they are in flux with the other projects, so they are to be announced and will be posted.