Print Name: Andrada Mihailescu

Bloc URL: http://andradamihailescu-mm.blogspot.co.uk/

Provisional Working Title: The Curator’s Eye

Description of the Mixed Media Proposal including the balance between written submission and practical submission (this section should be no less than 500 words).

My artefact for the Mixed Media Module is going to be a book which shall contain interviews with 5 curators from the United Kingdom. I aim to interview Hazel Stone, who is curator of the Sydney Cooper gallery in Canterbury, Lauren A. Wright from the Turner Contemporary located in Margate and 3 people who are in charge with curating gallery spaces in London. I have yet to identify them. Throughout these interviews I wish to explore the process which takes place whilst curating an exhibition. I tend to believe that each person sees things in a certain manner which influences the decisions he/she makes regarding a gallery space and how the images are arranged. The questions raised and answers received shall form the base of my research for the mixed media essay. After the interviews are sent back to me, along with the responses, I shall go through each of them in order to identify how every individual perceives and develops the curatorial process.

Regarding the questions, they will not vary from one interview to another in order to obtain consistency. I have tried to make them precise and concise. Finding out as much information as possible is essential when aiming to document and exhibition and the process of putting it together from beginning to completion. That is the reason for asking questions related to selection criteria, time management, printing & framing and lightning techniques. I am interested in how each specialist perceives the entire process and what his/her starting point to creating a show is. I am curious to find out how each person would describe the curatorial process using one word or phrase. I expect to receive some interesting responses to that question in particular.

There are various aspects which have to be taken into consideration and dealt with accordingly when aiming to organize an excellent exhibition. Targeting the appropriate audience by choosing a suitable theme and title, composing a press release which shall capture people’s attention and make them want to come and see the images shown.

Another crucial aspect is being able to work as part of a team and cope with stress in situations which might prove to be under pressure. One single person cannot put a show together on his own because there is so much to do before everything is completed. Even if the curator is in charge with arranging the work in the available space, he will most likely require other people’s help when hanging the artwork.

For my prototype I have asked Dr. Karen Shepherdson, curator of the Burton Gallery if she would be able to respond to an interview regarding the current show in the Burton Gallery at Canterbury Christ Church University, Broadstairs Campus. She was kind enough to help me and provided some excellent answers which shall be very useful for my research. The exhibition referred to in the interview is a group show and therefore some answers may vary when it comes to solo shows which shall be talked about with the rest of the curators involved in my project.

Images depicting each exhibition will also be included in the publication and my aim is to use my own images which I shall take at the event, instead of making use of other people’s photos. That way, my project will be personal and reflect engagement.

With regards to the balance of written to practical, option number 2 would be the best choice. 50% of my project shall be written and the other 50% will be based on practice. My essay would have 2500 words and be accompanied by the publication. Both of them will be submitted as part of the assignment, along with a link to my critical journal.

Identify the RESOURCES you will require to undertake the mixed media project.

Some of the interviews will be recorded and transcribed therefore I will need an I-phone to record the conversation. I shall also download the software required to do the transcribing. A laptop will also be required as well as Blurb software which shall be used to produce the book.

When producing the images of the shows I will be using my own digital camera which is a Nikon D700. Lenses used will either be Tokina 28-70mm, f/2.8; Nikon 50mm, f/1.8 or Nikon 70-300mm, f/2.8. Other items such as memory cards, batteries and hard drives will be vital.

Last but not least, I will require each interviewed person’s permission to use the answers he/she provides in my project and also be aware that they might drop out at any given time. That is a decision I have to respect. In the situation when that does occur, the interviews shall not be included in the final outcome.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Books:

1. Mieke Bal – Expository Discourse

2. Roland Barthes – Image, Music, Text

3. John Berger – Ways of Seeing

4. Philip Hughes – Exhibition Design

5. Shirley Read – Exhibiting Photography

Interviews:

· Tim Burton Retrospective: An Interview with Curator Ron Magliozzi

http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/tim-burton-at-m-1.php

· An interview with Katrina Sluis, Digital Curator at the Photographers' Gallery

http://www.furtherfield.org/features/interviews/interview-katrina-sluis-digital-curator-photographers-gallery