I have just finished my essay for this semester, addressing “the curatorial approaches you engage with, discussing how you would like to distribute your work,” and realised that I referred to works that do not exactly reflect the pieces I made this semester. Instead, I detailed my curatorial approaches to an ongoing project I have titled The Gammon Collection.
This project was begun as an undergrad, with the first piece being produced in 2007. The majority of it was utilised in my degree show, May 2012. It is, however, an ongoing collection and I plan to add to it as time goes on. I may even create some pieces next year for my MFA degree show. No promises, though.
The backstory is fairly straightforward, and explains why I ended up in possession of these pieces. My fictitious uncle, Carl Gammon was a get-rich-quick schemer who was inspired by shows like Storage Wars, Pawn Stars and American Pickers and he began bidding on storage auctions. One auction he one contained a collection of crates and boxes that looked like they hadn’t been opened for decades. Unfortunately, he died shortly after that auction. I am his heir and after sorting through the crates, I discover this collection of curiosities and artefacts. I name the collection in honour of my uncle.
I chose the name “Carl Gammon” for my fictitious uncle for specific reasons: The OED tells us that the name Carl comes from the Old Norse word karl, meaning man, or in Middle English, a countryman or man of the people, while a gammon is an archaic slang term meaning “A thief’s accomplice who distracts the attention of a victim while a crime is committed.” So my fictitious uncle becomes, “just a guy who’s meant to divert attention” off of me as an artist.
The first and only (so far) exhibition of the Gammon Collection was for my BFA thesis show in May 2012. It was received very well (I passed with flying colours) and a notable percentage of viewers assumed they were actual historic pieces. This was in a white-space art gallery.
When I show it again, I plan on have more pieces and to show it in a space that is more conducive to the fiction that it is an actual natural history collection. This means, not in a white box gallery but in a location that conveys a sense of history. Preferably, someplace I have complete control of, along with an expansive budget. I would love to create a long-term home for the collection and house it in a place that the public can visit, much like the Hokes Archives or the Museum of Jurassic Technology.
But for now I need to concentrate on finishing this year out and then the next.
This week we are clearing out our studios, even though the semester doesn’t end for another month, and we have two shows to prepare for between now and then. Ah well. Apparently the idea is to get the MA’s set up for the summer (their course runs until August) and let the MFA2s finish their work on their degree shows. We MFA1s get to cram ourselves in wherever we fit.
No pictures today. Click here to see the Gammon Collection.