Meetings over the last few weeks.

Hi everyone,

Sorry there hasn't been as regular updates on the meetings as there should have been.

Firstly it's probably most important to confirm the dates we have the Old Rag Factory for. It will be... 8th June - 23rd June 2009. Opening night will be 11th June.

Most of the team leader meetings recently have discussed the design/logo the most as it's pressing that we come to some sort of decision about it sooner rather than later. Everyone continue to feedback to the design team about the logo they put forward so they can see what needs to change (if anything). There were some initial designs shown a few weeks ago which I can post here now it's clear people are looking at the blog. One particular idea incorporating a rangefinder type image seemed to go down well and I think some people would like to see that idea pushed forward more.

In terms of fundraising, the team have done an utterly amazing job so far having arranged two fundraising events. I'm sure they have lots of other cool ideas and if we keep going at the rate we are it'll be very very beneficial.

It was agreed I think in the last meeting with Steffi and Chris that we all pay the remaining amount, £150, as soon as the loans come in at the beginning of January. I'm not sure if a specific date has been arranged for this (Lacey, maybe you can post that here when you've decided?).

I'm not completely clear over what is happening with the contract but I think everything is in order, but we're still waiting for complete confirmation on the venue. Simon met with the guy who created 'Made in Medway' and he suggested companies that may be willing to sponser us, particularly if we have a catalogue (more on that later). Specific places mentioned were BAE Systems, Arriva, Fred Perry and Ben Sherman. There is some concern over BAE due to the nature of what they manufacture and whether people will be happy about them providing sponsorship. This is something that needs further discussion next term as we want everyone to be happy with the 'relationship'.

So, a catalogue. Overall it seemed that most people were excited by this idea and would like one. A couple of people rightly expressed concern over the cost and the amount of work/organisation that would be involved however it was felt that it was an attainable goal providing it was super organised. It was argued though that plenty of other university's manage to make one so can it actually be that tough? I believe Sophia is investigating how much it'd cost for a print run. Chris suggested we look outside the country for cheaper deals on printing so this is a possibility. I think if it were to go ahead people would have to have work available earlier on, perhaps quite far in advance of the show which probably won't/will defo not be straightforward. Also there was the problem of those people who are possibly working on an installation and how they would present that in a catalogue. Personally, and it's just my opinion, I think it'd be amazing to have some sort of catalogue but it may end in disaster... it depends how quickly the turn around could be without compromising on the quality. It's a bit of a tricky one. Again after Christmas we really need to have further discussion on this.

Also discussed was asking tutors (well, Jean really) to come and do a talk on one of the days of the exhibition. There are also other people who work within UCA who may be willing. What the talks would be about isn't quite clear (our work, someone elses work, the moon?) but it would be a lovely idea and would provide more for people than just another graduate show. I believe Jean has kindly agreed to this so we know she's on board.

What else...

Oh yes, well most importantly obviously (and a touch late) is the name - Out of Range... Yay.

Steffi reminded us in the whole group meeting that there may be a clash with our work needing to be in two places at once. This is not confirmed but obviously the sooner we know the better really so we can start panicking. If we arrange it well in advance we may be able to have use of the UCA mini bus.

In terms of curation, most people have sent me an outline of their work. I'm still waiting for a couple of people to get back to me. Generally it seems as if there is quite an even mix of prints/installation/video so that's interesting. We have the floorplans for the spaces now so we can start looking at what is available/how much people want to show etc. Whether we actually break it down into vaguely themed groups can't really be decided until we all have more refined visual stuff however looking at everything people showed in the reviews and also what people emailed me maybe this would work. I don't know, it's quite early days for thinking about that yet.

Lastly, someone came up with the excellent suggestion of everyone setting their homepage to the blog so things are not missed.

I think that's about it for now. If there is anything else I'll post it.

L
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