The Road to Degree Show - 6

Plastered

My painting still sits in the foyer of the Ben Pimlott building, so close to its home and yet so far. I have spoken with the studio manager and he has said no to the idea of winching the painting up the side of the building.

I think that's a real shame - the publicity alone would have been worth the bother ;)

However we have decided to carry the painting up the external fire-escape stairs, we now have to wait for a windless day so it doesn't carry the porters off the top of a very high building. If you live in london and look up one day this week to find a bunch of art students handgliding overhead with a 3m canvas you will know that I gave up waiting.

In the meantime I have turned my energies to the task of prepping the exhibition space. Progress has been extremely encouraging.

A combined effort form the entire 5th Floor made light work of the initial clear out of the studios. Like a well oiled machine we took the spaces that had been so mercilessly abused by students over the last year and stripped them ready for transformation. Amongst the items removed during the clear out was a computer, a kid's scooter and fridge.

Studios cleared, it was time for the art crew to move in and begin dismantling the walls. Having done this last year let me tell you it is a fun graft - the walls are not treated with much respect and there is plenty of loud crashes, bangs and destruction.

Once that is done the build begins and this year the crew have really stuck in and done a good job. I already have all the walls erected in my space - in fact there is only one wall remaining on our floor to complete. After that it is entirely down to the students and their helpers to get the space looking gallery-ready!

And we have been stuck in all day today.

First we have to repair the walls of our space as they have been built using the same walls that the studios were built with - yes, the same walls that have first been abused by students and then razed to the ground by the crew. Repairing them involves filling the holes with a filler and then sanding them to smooth until you have a nice flat wall ready for a lick of paint. The consequences of these activities is a haze of plaster dust which manages to cover everything, hair, clothes, paintings, ceilings - even your underwear.

As I write this I do so from beneath a coating of the stuff. I must say that I love the effect it has on hair - thickening it and making it very stylable. In my experience there has yet to be a hair product that can match plaster dust for stylability and hold.

Anyway the plastering is mostly done and I came to a stop this evening just in time to see the sun set majestically over London (shown above). Tomorrow I have teaching in the morning but come the afternoon I shall be back in the plaster cloud. Maybe if we get another fantastic sunset tomorrow I shall throw caution (and my painting) to the wind and you will catch the sight of me freewheeling high in the sky, bound for the sun.