I have a problem with women. Just ask the Google Maps lady or any of my ex-wives. A very specific problem, girl speak. I don’t like taking directions from women. In a strange city where getting lost or pulling over to look at a paper map are equally disastrous choices I rely on Karen Jacobson aka the GPS girl, but grudgingly.
I faithfully followed Ms. Jacobson’s measured tones as I traveled from Tucson, Arizona to the Gallery at TCA (Tempe Center for the Arts) in Tempe Arizona, recently. It was 108 miles and several hairy-ass skeins of spaghetti-like interchanges. Interchanges so Byzantine you imagine they could never add more lanes and then they do. I don’t like women telling me what to do with the possible exception of Karen Jacobsen in a strange city trying to make it to an appointment while navigating exit lanes at 80 miles an hour..
I was in Tempe to install my contribution to ARTOLOGY: Beyond Boundaries, a multi- media display highlighting artists “breaking traditional limits.” The show was spread out over two different sites, the main gallery and the satellite gallery on Mill Avenue.
There I was at the Gallery at TCA. Waiting for me were Audrey Galat, curatorial assistant and her helpers Tye and Fish, the intrepid crew at work behind the scenes for all the Gallery shows.
And my issue about how I’d have to suck it up and take directions from women never really was. Because I wasn’t going to be getting any directions from this very professional extremely talented well-versed team who all happened to be women. From the beginning it was clear these three women knew what they were doing, had done this sort of thing many times before and were not much going to tell me what to do because they didn’t need my help. Problem solved?
My job was mostly to shake my head: “Yes that looks good”, or “No a little more up/down, left or right” That was it. And that proved to be quite a relief.
Providing work for ARTOLOGY was new territory for me. I had done similar temporary installation pieces in the past also in the Phoenix area. In 2005 I installed an animatronic Dia De Los Muertos shrine at the Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix, AZ. In 2003 I installed Wishes on the Winds, a temporary public art project at Encanto Park also in Phoenix. In both cases, I was on my own for the installation, a solo artist listening only to the critic living in my head.
In short order I realized how different my role would be for this project. Audrey and her crew took charge of transporting my work to the installation site, the Tempe Retail USPS Store in Tempe AZ. Here I am with my full-sized pickup. Not needed. The small box of tools I brought: also not needed. TCA’s installation kit included everything you’d possibly want for an off site install and more. My role was for the ARTOLOGY installI was to be design specialist/artist advisor.
I had actually brought nothing from Tucson that could be installed. My proposal was based on an imagined presentation envisioned from existing work reproduced on a large scale as inkjet prints. In addition there would be a series of quotes from history texts and inkjet prints of my design to cover the floor of the display space. I had emailed almost all necessary files a month early to the Tempe print shop.
Where Girl Speak didn’t show up
So, I could easily imagine Audrey and her crew telling me, “ Thank you for your contribution. Now, please let us do our work.” I definitely didn't hear that. And I thanked the heavens and the crew for all their good support and hard work when they finally wrapped up the install after almost four hours.
Audrey notified me two months prior I’d been selected to join three other artists for TCA’s satellite display location. I then set up a site visit to better grasp what I had gotten myself into. The staff greeted me with warm handshakes and eager smiles.
My introduction and initial site visit looked like this:
Meet Tye, the gallery installation specialist,
See the back gallery shop,
Stop at the Tempe city print shop to meet with Alex Bobb, the shop’s print production specialist.
Wrap up the visit with a stop at Mochi Fresh for a boba tea and a sub sandwich next door at Cheba Hut. A good time was had by all
And then the road to the finish got rocky...
Back home in Tucson, with just seven weeks to go before installation I quickly drew up a game plan, a final design for the installation that would meet the Gallery’s expectations. Audrey and I agreed the print shop would create a total of four color inkjet prints on foam core from my originals. The original were from a series of abstract pieces I had been developing. The shop would also print four black ink graphics on plex to sandwich over the color prints. I was on my own for sourcing the plex and getting it to Alex at the print shop.
Additionally there were four clerestory windows over the display space I agreed to fill with text in cut vinyl and a triangular floor space below that needed a treatment.
I’m a whiz at my computer and I’m a pro at ordering art supplies. I was on my own and not taking directions from anyone. Okay then. But wait. Soon to come...the need for much humility.
For instance, the day before the installation I realized I neglected to send ahead the .pdf files needed to print the vinyl lettering. No problem, said Audrey. “If you send them now I can have them printed and ready for tomorrow (installation day),” she says. What an amazing job of stepping up...Audrey’s covering me for a screw up of my own making. I’m humbled.
She texts back to say the quotes I sent include fonts too small to print in vinyl and what would I like to do? I’m cooking dinner but I have to make time for this detail. I’m scrolling on my phone to check some samples she’s sent but I’m wearing vinyl gloves coated in roasted chiles pepper juice. The gloves won't play nice with my phone. I can’t put this off. The gallery folks are definitely on overtime at this point. Finally I can see Audrey’s screenshots and I pick one, almost at random. We’re a go for the vinyl letters.
Printing of my originals by others-got it, time to let go. We’re talking about a municipal print shop. Likely, they can handle eight 24” x 24” color prints on foam core or plex.
But then...what about the plex? Where could I get that and get it cut to size and drilled and shipped to Alex for printing? Then the printed work would have to get to the TCA Gallery shop and how would the gallery crew know how to drill the plex. And then there was the question of the plex--how to drill it for the standoff hardware that would be used to create the overlay effect I wanted. I’ve got enough hard won experience with plex to know disaster awaits. My plex, my nickel - let's not need any do-overs. Still I’m not hands-on, again.
I found a diagram on an acrylic sheet industry website and forwarded it to Audrey. We got this, Audrey said. She was all over it. She even sent me a jpeg of the specialty drill bit needed to properly drill the material.
Then I thought, “Blah, blah, blah-I’ll still probably have to make additional trips to Tempe from Tucson. False. I made a total of three trips to Tempe. One for the initial site visit, one to oversee the install and one to uninstall. That’s three less than my little lizard brain I could imagine.
I spent over 20 years in the housing industry both as a trade and an assistant site superintendent. I can do hands on and I can marshall bodies to get the job done. This was not the skill set I needed for ARTOLOGY.
My Problem solved
I have no idea how the installation process played out for my fellow artists - there were three others besides myself. For me, the TCA crew made the process as simple, easy, professional and stress free as possible. They especially did everything they could to avoid having me come to Tempe more than just three times. My design was definitely an evolving and frequently morphing target. It required competent gallery personnel needing little or minimal oversight. My assistance would have been about as helpful as a blowtorch to a florist. In the end there was almost no hands-on effort by yours truly and that was a welcome change.
Overall, the installation turned out better than I could have managed by myself or by taking directions from others. If ARTOLOGY was my classroom, the lesson was: let go of expectations long enough to appreciate the bounty. It’s kind of cool being the honored guest.
I wish I could say the opening was fun but there was none. Still, go see the show for yourself. Let me know what you think.