Artists in Residence Week 7 - Lemon Otter and Sam Flastic Hughes.

This week, and exactly one year on from their previous residency at The Old Lookout, the gallery was home to Lemon and Sam, with their exhibition Thon Colin Land. Last year, their week comprised a constant, improvised performance piece, which was filmed and, amongst other shorts, made into an hour-long comedy extravaganza. This was then presented in the same week this year, bringing the work full circle. Alongside the film, framed stills from their other comedy shorts and lots of comfy furnishings and disco lights were included to enhance the general atmosphere of a mini bijou cinema. When the film wasn't being screened, visitors were treated to Sam's music, which I couldn't help having a little dance to when I thought no-one was looking.
Half of the Old Lookout was blacked out and converted into a comfortable and cosy screening room, with the other half offering visitors the delights of "weird confectionery", "nicetimes" and "trays" (their words, not mine) and a chance to chat to the creators of the work.

To me, this exhibition was different to everything else that has been at The Old Lookout. I loved how the gallery was transformed from a rustic, beachy, wooden building, to a cosy and welcoming space. Although everything was to be looked at with a pinch of irony, there was still a sense of creating a comfortable atmosphere for visitors once they crossed the threshold into the other half of the gallery space. In terms of the public's reaction to the film, Lemon noted that although there wasn't an enormous number of people who did stay and watch either the whole or a substantial part of the film, those who did seemed to really get into it and, most importantly, laughed. She suggested that some people had to rush off after 10 or 15 minutes of watching, but also that once people sat down and gave it a chance, they understood it and enjoyed the humour.
Unfortunately, Lemon and Sam did have a few concerns about the practicalities of how the gallery is run. Most notably, they found that actually being there and invigilating the exhibition was more tiring than expected, and thought that there should be volunteers to look after the work on one or more of the less busy days to give the artists a day off. This is an option, but it would have to be put to each individual artist to see whether they would be comfortable in leaving their work with someone that, by nature, wouldn't be as knowledgeable about it. Along the same lines, they also thought there should be comfier chairs provided for the artists to make the general day to day inhabiting of the space more comfortable, and a bit less general 'stuff' in the gallery. They did agree that it should remain a rustic space, but argued that it shouldn't be so cluttered. Lemon would also have found it useful to have a locker or secure place for them to store valuables, not overnight but just for if they wanted to pop out for a minute. Giving the space a good clear out would certainly be possible if it was felt that the things really were causing a problem for people's exhibitions. However, as a free and non-profit space, it might be difficult to address problems that involve buying lots of new equipment. Unfortunately, when asked what they thought about the week, both artists thought that it wasn't entirely successful in terms of increasing their publicity and enhancing the public's knowledge about the work. They suggested that there just weren't enough people coming through the door to spread the word. However, they did comment that the feedback they got from the people who did watch the film all the way through was invaluable in helping them decide where to take the work next.
Lemon also suggested to me that she wished she had included more information in the captions of the framed film stills, in order to stop visitors being confused when they first entered the space. The difficulty was engaging people enough to get them to watch the film. However, it seemed that blowing bubbles off the balcony of The Old Lookout was a sure-fire way to get children, and by default also their parents, involved in the exhibition and motivated to ascend the stairs!
Another idea that was suggested was that of hosting more evening events at The Old Lookout gallery. I think that perhaps having scheduled events, especially for this kind of exhibition, would bring in a different demographic of people, and offer a more structured way to guarantee an enthusiastic audience. Definitely something to think about!
Overall, the artists did admit that it was a mixed week in terms of success, but the fact that there were people who sat and watched the whole film, and laughed all the way through, did help to increase their knowledge of what people find funny in this kind of context. Without a doubt, there were lots of people who really got it, including someone who casts for comedy adverts (with whom details were obviously swapped), whose feedback was clearly appreciated.