Drafting - Day 1

What an amazing day.

This weekend I am participating in Drafting, a 2-day drawing and performance event. There are a range of artists and curators involved, coming from all over the UK and at different stages of their artistic career. Over the past couple of weeks I have been helping with the organisation of the event, and have been in email contact with all the artists involved in Drafting. This morning was the first time that I had met many of the group, and having breakfast together was an ideal way to introduce ourselves.

Discussions about the schedule

Alastair MacLennan sets up his space

We were fortunate to be able to use the project space at BALTIC 39, and close attention was paid to how we could best utilise the space given what we each wanted to do. Much effort was taken to ensure that there was movement of the audience over the evening. For instance, we programmed the evening so that after one performance, the audience had to move to a different part of the gallery.

Gillian Dyson prepares the gallery for her performance

Porcelain props in place for Denys Blacker's performance

We were also very mindful of the duration and nature of each performance, and tried to vary the pace. 

Elements of green and orange in place for Debbie Guinnane's performance

Over the course of the weekend, Sally Madge is collecting dust from people, objects and spaces, and displaying these in vitrines in the gallery. Sally notes where the sample has come from and numbers each one before placing it in a grid along with the others.

Sally gathers traces from artist Rene Mcbrearty

Samples of dust collected by Sally Madge and her lint roller

The atmosphere throughout the day has been one of encouragement, respect and support, and this continued in the evening. The audience were fantastic; attentive, quiet and engaged. Many stayed for the full 3 hours.

Debbie Guinnane and Alastair MacLennan in action

I'll be uploading photos of the performances soon.