Its been a blur !

by Janie Nicoll, 2 May 2008

It’s the night before ‘Big In Falkirk’ and everything seems to be ready to go….. Its been a hectic few weeks with an exhibition, a music event, a performance event, an outdoor video screening and a residents magazine to organize. No wonder its all been a bit of a blur.. Strangely enough i feel far less stressed about the coming weekend than I did about the opening of our exhibition. I think when you put your own work out on show it adds a whole extra strata of anxiety… Will it work visually, technically, conceptually? Will people be able to understand it or get something from it? I was anxious in case any of the residents would react badly to their “Empty Portraits”, as they have such existentialist overtones, and could be read as a bit depressing. On the night at least six of the group turned up for the opening and were complimentary and enthusiastic about the show and the portraits, so that was a relief.

I am the type of person who only really seems to get my act together when I can see the deadline staring me in the face. Will I ever learn, I wonder ? It was only in the last few weeks before the exhibition that I realized what kind of work I wanted to make, although I am glad in a way that it has indeed involved the group of residents that we have been working with, in quite a direct way. For me this adds weight to the work, as I know that there has been a genuine interaction, a build up of trust and friendship that is not superficial or contrived and I think the next stage of the residency for me is to build on this.

Another significant development is the fact that during the portrait sessions I found out that there is a video channel linked throughout the flats to every TV set. A few weeks back a fellow artist from Praktika, Rosie Gibson, had suggested to me the idea of creating a radio station as a method of communication with the residents of the High Flats. Not knowing much about the dynamics of radio or sound work in general, I didn’t think this was something that we would be likely to tackle. However, with the realization that there is a TV channel we can hopefully access, and maybe create regular bulletins or ‘shows’ of some sort, it opens up a whole new spectrum of possibilities for us as artists and for the group.