Small room

I was delighted when the Alliance Française accepted to host Love Journeys, but I didn’t put any further thought into what the space actually was, or what we would make of it. I knew there was a big ‘ball-room’ with a chimney and period features, and I was happy with it. As it turns out, there’s actually two exhibition rooms in Eildon manner: the big ball room, and a smaller one on the side.
Patrice, the director, asked if we planned anything for that small room – he’d like us to use it. I thought about it, and first had the idea that we could make long vertical panels, like Chinese painting rolls, exploring themes like storytelling, money, border control, or community. I even drafted a model and discussed imagery with Joy. But, as it turned out, it would be a lot of extra work, extra budget, and so we decided against it. I’ll be putting up some of the discussion themes on this blog later.
Phil had another, simpler ideas: there’s a lot of text in this exhibition – each version of the story is about 900 words. It may not be comfortable for the viewers to read all of that standing up, with people around. So why not provide a print out of the texts, and install chairs or a couch in the small room, for the visitors to sit down and read at leisure? I pitched the idea to Patrice, who was happy with it. It’s got a bit of a Sophie Calle touch, which I like, and fits with the Alliance Française.
Now, our next step is to locate the table and couch. Ideas anyone?