First Site Exhibition - Colchester - Steven Claydon

On Monday 6^th May 2012 I visited an Exhibition held in Colchester Exhibition building called the Firstsite. The exhibition being displayed was the work of Steven Claydon. Steve Claydons work is based on representations and objects, most often through perceptive, calculated juxtapositions in a variety of media: sculpture, painting, collage and film.

Unfortunately on arrival the exhibition was closed due to maintenance by instead I looked around other parts of the building. There were a couple of minor exhibitions being displayed, 1 of the University of Essex and a couple that were part of Colchester Roman Castle. However, although these exhibitions were small they still allowed enough detail to log and use in order to develop ideas that can be used within our group exhibition. 

The pictures below are of the University of Essex Exhibition and are art pieces created using lilo and rolled ink. The pictures themselves are very interesting but the layout was more important. As you can see in the layout the colour scheme is very neutral. The walls are kept white and the outline to the picture frames are solid black. This makes the art work stand out.

By using such a simple technique in the colour scheme it has allowed visitors to identify the work much more easily. All of the portraits of work have been kept to a selected size. There are however some different sizes but non stand out too large or too small.

The text at the bottom of each picture’s is simple and does not require the read to do extensive reading. It’s kept simple and easy to read. All of the text is printed on the walls to keep the room clear.

This piece is centred within the hallway and clearly allows viewers to view the artwork. It’s light up underneath so not external lighting is necessary.

In this picture the flooring is made of glass with seating around the edge to allow people to rest and sit while looking at the roman floor below the glass. Once again simplicity has been used and it allows the art work below the glass to stand out. This seating area is necessary, as the exhibition doesnt hold alot for visits to spectate at, it gives people the chance to sit down. An invite to hold people in the building for longer. Also while sitting down visitors have an beautiful eye catching art piece built into the floor.

There are other bits of art work dotted around the building and they all incorporate the same simplicity in the layout. This can be used within out exhibition theme, keep things very simple, neutral colours and easy to read on wall printing to keep the floor and areas clear and free from objects.

This piece of art was very bland and a good example of how to waste space. There was no indication what this piece of art work does nor any detailing about the creator themselves. From a visitors view this space could have been used for a much better purpose. It displays poor arrangement within the building.

Another example of art work left with not detailing, it does not inspire a visitor to admire this creators art work. However, a very good use of a complex background to make the artwork stand out.

Here in this image below some of the exhibition art work is left to stand outside of the crates that they arrived in. This in right in the main lobby of the building, the entrance. It looks very untidy and messy. I understand that the building has only been opened for the public for a couple of months, however the smallest untidy examples do not give visitors a good welcome. Perhaps we can use this fault to ensure that we do not make the same mistake in our exhibition.

Graphic Design has been kept very simple in these exhibitions as well as he dress code that the staff use. All of the staff were dressed in plain black which I felt was a bit too bland and simple.

Lighting in this building is mainly directed from the ceiling. This maybe because the ceiling in the building as excessively high so the use of ceiling lighting keeps the floor area clear but does not do the art work any benefit. The art work required individual lighting this is becuase individual lighting will allow the work to be light up and express the work as individual artists and creators.

The only advertising of this exhibition was via the internet on their own website. It may have been advertised in local shops and local paper but this cannot be confirmed.  When searching for the Exhibition through google I could only find the website by going through an external website that advertised the Opening of the new building. From this there was then a link to the website which was easy to view and read with easy links to present and up coming exhibitions.

The building itself has only just been built, a new 2011 complex but the exhibition inside doesn’t show strong financial background. Things are keep simple but they work well. Money has been spent very wisely in this exhibition. Having a building that was purposely built for exhibition purpose is easy to hold exhibitions in, budgets are large but may not appear to be well spent. It may appear difficult to hold an exhibition in the facilities we have been provided but if the group budegts correctly the exhibition will prove to be successful.