Exhibition book 11 November 2010—24 December 2010 Julia Agisheva Darya Aksyuta Anna Maria Bushtueva Maria Gvozdeva Lena Shagieva British Higher School of Art and Design
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contents
Exhibition organization
Press release
04 Name and Planing
06 Venue
28 Online
Poster and flyers
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42 Installation
30 Invitations
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Mel Space
32 Sponsorship
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44 Opening night
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Afterword
100 Reflection
102 Making the making of
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Work in the exhibition space
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Spending
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Mel Space
Exhibi organi
hibition organization
Exhibition Organization
Name and planning
Meeting 1 Discussing the name, conception, venue and sponsorship. Defining responsibilities and dates of further meetings. All of us agreed that before going our own ways we should find a name and a style for the exhibition, everyone will be happy about. 6
Starting point of the project. Making our first presentation with portraits of all group members. We’ve chosen the initial name (18+) rather quickly, during the first 2 hours after receiving the brief. Making a visual identity and presentation for that concept. 7
Exhibition Organization
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It didn’t take a long time to realize that this name and concept are not really appropriate, because it was too binding to a definite issue, therefore narrowing the frames of personal investigation into typography, making it not really personal.
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Exhibition Organization
Time Plan November—December 2010
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week no.
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MONDAY
VS TYPOGRAPHY Outcome 1 EXHB research printing for the book
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TUESDAY
YCN BME Research
30 YCN BME Development Visuals
YCN BME
7 YCN BME Development
YCN BME
C&CS Lecture
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17
WEDNESDAY
VS Whorkshop 7
24 VS Workshop 8
VS TYPOGRAPHY Outcome 1
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11
18
5
12
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FRIDAY
YCN BME Research Brainstorm
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13
SATURDAY
Project 3 BRIEFING COMPETITION BRIEFS D&AD/YCN
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20
VS Workshop 11
VSTYPOGRAPHY More ideas, sketches
VSTYPOGRAPHY
VSTYPOGRAPHY
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VS TYPOGRAPHY TUTORIAL 2
VS TYPOGRAPHY TUTORIAL 2
VS TYPOGRAPHY TUTORIAL 2
Outcomes
Outcomes
Outcomes
3 YCN BME Development Visuals
27 YCN BME TUTORIAL 2
8 VS Workshop 10
26 YCN BME
YCN BME TUTORIAL 1
1 VS Workshop 9
25 VS TYPOGRAPHY TUTORIAL 1 Outcome 2
THURSDAY
EXHIBITION BRIEFING
SUNDAY
6 VS TYPOGRAPHY
C&CS
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10
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29 YCN BME Development
10 C&CS First draft
4 D&AD/YCN INTERIM CRIT
YCN BME
11 YCN BME TUTORIAL 4
D&AD/YCN CRIT SUMMATIVE DEA
Exhibition meeting
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21 YCN BME Research Time Plan
28 C&CS Forms
5 C&CS Essay draft
12 Exhibition Promotion
VSTYPOGRAPHY
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20 VSTYPOGRAPHY
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21 Exhibition
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27 Exhibition (?)
C&CS FINAL DRAFT
28 Your text here
22 VS Workshop 11
29 Exhibition Preparation
Design Document
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Y
30 Exhibition Preparation
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31 Exhibition Opening
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1 Exhibition
ADLINE
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2 The Book
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Exhibition Organization
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Meeting 3 Brainstorming of the name for the show, lists and variations. Defining key features of out future exhibition, we came up with several good solutions.
Meeting 4 Exhibition identity development 13
Exhibition Organization
VISUAL PILLS
Visuals kill
Visualskill
VISUAL PILLS
Visuals kill
Visuals kill
VISUAL PILLS
DEERS& TRIANGLES
Visuals kill DEERS&TRIANGLES
DEERS& TRIANGLES
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Visuals Kill
VISUAL PILLS VISUAL PILLS
VISUAL PILLS
Meeting 4 Initial ideas and sketches for exhibition identity which were declined later. We came to Visual Pills and Deers and Triangles. However, after the tutorial we started to have our doubts and changed our mind again to Visuals Kill. We started the development of identity for this name.
VISUAL PILLS VISUAL KILLS
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L UA S I V
L PIL
VISUAL
PILLS
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Exhibition Organization
Venue
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During the first meeting we made a quick initial list of possible venues. We decided, that it should not be a bar, a club, a concert hall, a restaurant, a cafe, or any other place, not specialized in exhibiting artworks, because as graphic designers, producing typographical objects, we cannot be sure, it will look good in such an independent environment. That is why we also refused red brick wall galleries, where the works could simply be lost. The wall should have been as neutral as possible. Probably white. One of our primary requirements was central location and a good area.
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Exhibition Organization
Strelka Administration of the Strelka replayed that they usually do not organize exhibitions at their space. They rejected us, and we were not ready to pay 180.000 rub.
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Mel Space From the very beginning was a priority to the other options. However, we called there, and they told it would cost us 40.000 rub a day, which is a huge amount of money, we were not ready to spend on a venue. Then we thought about Dom. We came to see Dom, and made sure it didn’t suite us. Mel agreed on a discount, so that it would cost us 15.000 rubles a day, two days. 24-25, weekend was booked for us in Mel.
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Exhibition Organization
poster and flyers Meeting 4 Exhibition identity. We came up with the final name of the show and the idea for the poster. Discussing it further, we decided that we need a visually strong poster, related to the content of the exhibition. An easy and powerful solution was to make a wooden laser cut typography with the name. Later we thought that the name was not appropriate so we changed our name again to Sense&Skills which all of us liked.
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Sense and Skills Experimental typography exhibition
Experimental typography exhibition
Melspace 24—25 December 2010 Opening on 24th at 7pm
Experimental typography exhibition
Melspace December 24—25 2010 Opening on 24th at 7pm
Melspace
24—25 December 2010 Opening on 24th at 7pm
Experimental typography exhibition
Галерея Мел Болотная набережная, 5
24—25 December 2010 Открытие 24 в 19:00
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Exhibition Organization
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Photographs of laser cut plywood poster and letters for the flyer.
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Exhibition Organization
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Poster and flyer were put around Artpplay, Vinzavod, Red Oktober, Kitay gorod, 35mm and Respublica
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Exhibition Organization
Posters and flyers printed on self adhesive film. Cutting and distribution. 26
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Exhibition Organization
Press Release Typography for us is not simply about letters, words, and phrases, for us it’s about sense. That is what our exhibition is about. We are not afraid of experiments, we do not seek for shortcuts. We do everything in a proper way. While Putin is singing and playing the piano, we are using unconventional techniques; while people are fighting on Manezhnaya square, we are applying an offbeat approach to material usage; while the Pope will be celebrating catholic Christmas, we will gather together to drink champaign and show our works. Come and see on the 24th of December, 7 p.m., in Mel Space on Red October.
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Exhibition Organization
Online
Release on Facebook, page about the show on Cargo, article on publish.ru and event on lookatme.ru 30
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Exhibition Organization
Invitations
We invited our peers, staff and administration, as well as those, we didn’t know, but would like to see on our exhibition. 32
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Exhibition Organization
Sponsorship
At the beginning of the work we were trying to get sponsors, but most of them wanted to see our work first and didn’t want to take a risque by sponsoring something they didn’t know. So we decided to delay it until something is done. But when the poster was ready it was too late to apply for sponsorship. We did, but we were rejected. We got a lot of discounted things, such as venue, printing, music equipment, barmen, free Dj.
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Exhibition Organization
Sponsorship letter Sense&Skills Exhibition on December 24th-25th in Mel Space, Red October. We are five students of British Higher School of Art and Design, already published on such famous web-sites, as ffffounf, the Gallery (New Jersey). lovelypackage, in Smena Magazine, on Publish covers. We are doing an exhibition. Typography for us is not simply about letters, words, and phrases, for us it’s about sense. That is what our exhibition is about. We are not afraid of experiments, we do not seek for shortcuts. We do everything in a proper way. While Putin is singing and playing the piano, we are using unconventional techniques; while people are beating each other on Manezhnaya square, we are applying an offbeat approach to material usage; while the Pope will be celebrating catholic Christmas, we will gather together to drink champaign and show our works. We invited such guests, as TV Rain and Silver Rain radio anchormen Alex Dubas and Mikhail Kozyrev, TV 36
Rain Art-director Vera Krichevskaya, TV Rain Foounder Natalya Sindeeva, such designers and illustrators, as Dmitri Karpov, Victor Melamed, Irina Troitskaya, Stas Polyakov, Protey Temen, and others: Esquire, OpenSpace, “Bol’shoi grod” and “Afisha” readers and creators, “Mayak” and “Strelka” bar visitors, those, who have no time to watch TV, young, brave, those, who we all hope for. We are looking for sponsorship! We need 60 000 rubles. We suggest to place your logotype on our poster (in the city and on the Internet), on the actual exhibition, your information on the postcards, given to the guests. We invited more than 300 people young audience, as well as professionals from the design sphere, interesting well-known people. To sponsor our exhibition is a way to help us to develop, show something interesting really interesing. Work samples are on our web-site http://cargocollective.com/sense_ and_skills/ We are waiting for your answer. 37
Exhibition Organization
Mailing list and examples of personal emails.
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Exhibition Organization
Spending
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30,000 11,500 3,500 1,500 15,000 3,487
venue food and drinks musical equipment poster & flyers printing book printing Misc.
64,987 total
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mel
mel space
Mel Space
Installation
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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At the Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Opening night
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
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Mel Space
Work in the exhibition space
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ASSUME NOTHING Darya Aksyuta There is nothing we can be sure about. Yesterday people thought the Earth was the center of the Universe, today we “know”, it goes round the Sun, but tomorrow we may find a better theory. Our knowledge is a range of assumptions, which sometimes prejudice our wide vision of the world and interfere with our own discoveries. What we know can turn into “nothing”, replaced by a better theory, so, nothing should be assumed. I’ve chosen glass, because it distorts our vision as well as prejudice and theories.
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Mel Space
FREEDOM OF SPEECH Lena Shagieva Nowadays news feeds are full of cases of violence to journalist, closing of magazines and strange behavior towards freedom. This work convey  the idea of saying what and when you want. It gives unique pleasure of creation everything they are thinking of, free and uncensored .
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BREATH INTO Lena Shagieva We all understand hoe difficult are times now — incredibly high level of violence, conflicts and fight are normal now, people beat each other of the central square of the capital. We all hope that this is an endpoint, this is a line, when something must be changed. The country needed to be revived. Do it with your out help — without our power country will not be breathing.
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CHOICE Lena Shagieva Every news has several meanings, double bottom. Sometimes it is hard to see what is going there, under the view border. I’m asking you to make a choice — to dig into, or see that it is shown.
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NOTHING Maria Gvozdeva Framing our existence in a beautiful frame, we forget that it does not make sense, there is no love, no compassion and kindness. All the colors of this world, we change for the cold gold. Inequality of the exchange is quite obvious.
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NO NOTICE Maria Gvozdeva Indifference — is a good means to escape from emotional distress, indifference is impenetrable, sterile shell that can not let us see this life as it is, with its bitterness and sweetness.
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SHE Maria Gvozdeva Women now have the right to be poor housewives. In Russia there are changes that allow many women to build their careers. Men are not the smartest and strongest anymore.
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STONE Maria Gvozdeva The secret is a heavy burden, secrets destroy, distort, they are as erosion, eating away at everything around them and grow. Keeping a secret is another’s highest degree of self-sacrifice, which can be compared only with wearing chains.
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MODERN GODS Maria Gvozdeva Modern society is a society of atheists, ringing of bells doesn’t mean anything for us, and we do not hurry to church on weekends. Our religion is a success, our gods on the TV screens. People ask God for money and material goods, thereby debasing the very concept of ‘faith’. God is not a magician or fairy.
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CUT FOLD LOVE GRID WITHIN TYPOGRAPHY Anna Maria Bushtueva Cut fold love is a typographic piece where I investigate transformations and possibilities of paper. Where typography becomes alive and flat piece of paper is turned into a 3-dimentional by experimenting with folding and cutting. Letterforms consist of grid. Geometric letterforms look alive with the help of light which highlights the shape, edges and bends.
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AIR POLLUTION Julia Agisheva Carbon dioxide emission this year is more than 21,804,571,943 tones. It won’t be a long time when the fresh air will be packed and sold on stock exchange. This typographic piece represents the constant filling of the atmosphere with chemicals, cell by cell. The modular typeface is based on grid of the plastic packaging film. The bubbles are filled with black ink creating innovative type forms.
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AESTHETICS & DEPTH Julia Agisheva and Anna Maria Bushtueva Aesthetics&Depth is an experimental piece where letterforms and flexible material interact together. Investigation of surface and edges makes the whole composition. Design is almost always about concept and visual qualities. This work tells about perfect combination of any design work — aesthetics and depth. Typography choice, color and composition are visually effective. And depth of the work at the same time is shown within the interaction of letterforms and fabric.
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Aft
terword
Afterword
Reflection Because it was the first exhibition for all of us, we obviously made a lot of mistakes and faced a lot of difficulties, but we learned a lot from them, as well. One of the most significant, in my mind, was that we didn’t define a leader on the very first meeting, so there was nobody responsible for organization within a team, which is very important to keep everything in control, when everyone has a different function. No one was watching over meeting deadlines, set in our time-plan, which, I think was also not very thought over. There was a time, when we seemed to be separate, involved only into our first-priority projects. Too much effort was given to naming, poster and identity design, because of misunderstanding and chaos within a team. However, a lot of organization was made within the last month, plan was adjusted, and it was followed more precisely ever since. It was difficult to search for sponsors without any works, or exhibition concept/name/ poster/information, and by the time it was ready, it was a bit too late to search for financial assistance. The problem here was in our planning and not following it. But it was quite easily solved by spending our own money, we earned before, doing design. We’ve found a lot of discount, though, from our friends, like barmen, printing, and equipment. Anyway, I do think, it was a good decision, to prioritize projects and at some point of time spend less time for this brief. The show itself was very well organized within the last 10 days. We had a very good exhibition space in the heart of contemporary Moscow life, enough alcohol and enough juice for those, who don’t drink the former. We had a lot of guests, not only our friends, but people from industry, like TV-rain representatives, Protey Temen and interested people I saw for the first time. The works looked good in the exhibition space, because it was rather small, but there were little of them, which was a drawback. All in all I feel this brief was very useful, we learned a lot of practical skills. It was a really precious experience that can be applied in future.
Darya Aksyuta
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This project was very educative for our group. Even though we did not find any sponsorship, our opening was great. I think that the main problem was that we did not have coordinator, who could help us to collaborate during preparation for exhibition. Another problem was that we spent most of the time doing our main brief. Anyway I think that this brief was one of the best tasks that I had in my life, I want to use my experience in future, now I believe that everything is possible. This exhibition helped to demonstrate my works to the audience and find new contacts, it is unbelievable feeling, when external people say that they like your works. I will never forget this day and this feeling and I am totally sure that I want to continue exhibit my works.
Maria Gvozdeva
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Afterword
Exhibition is over and now a lot of things are obvious for me. I enjoyed doing the exhibition and final organization things and this book. Being in our space and feeling yourself like a host was the most pleasant thing. We have been working as a real team then. Opening was great, because our organization was fine. I think that so far I have learned more than from any other project. I once again I am sure that if you want things to be done in a good way, do it yourself. And still I don’t know if I am a good team player or not. Another thing is decision. It is very important to make decisions immediately. This project was a whole huge experience for all of us.
Anna Maria Bushtueva
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The exhibition brief is one of the most important projects during this year. It involves not only visual skills, but abilities to organize, communicate and work in a group. I think our project was successful, however, if we would do it again with the experience we have got a lot of mistakes would be avoided. It is important that everybody in the team know clearly what their tasks are. And also to discuss every important stage all together. I think that organization of the whole show was fine, except the sponsorship part. Because we had not enough experience in this, we did not spend much time and effort. Another thing I know now is that it is complicated to organize the the show when you have not got any works ready. You do not know if the venue is suitable and people do not know what works to expect from you. The big part of the project is the book which me and Anna Maria were making together. It was hard  and very important to collect all the materials and texts for it. Despite all challenges it was great project, we hard and had fun together.
Julia Agisheva
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Afterword
This brief for sure was the most exciting and the most effectibe brief we ever done. It was the most exhausting, hard, long brief. The main difficult was in a working with so many fields – personal investigation (concept, work with materials, understanding of where and how to get that materials), copywriting in two languages (for works and for organizing), pr and ad (to make people come and work with us), personal pr (making style of business cards for example), organizing (that is mean to work with a lot of new people, making them to work for free, communicate with people just from the other word, who have no idea what for we should be needed to create a glass tube), work as a team (all members of our group is pretty independent and has personal opinion on exhibition) etc. I have to say that it was very bad idea to put such a brief in such a time. First of all we are already pretty tired to the date of beginning and having such a big task in head sometime just made us to give up. All these troubles with works and organizing at the same time just cause depression and tale the whole energy. Moreover, in a way that we had not enough time, we needed to work for nights and with out any rest. As a result – tiredness and lack of desire. Of course it is naive but the school had no interest in this exhibitions. It is a shame. Secondly, in this period all people in the city are already on their holidays and there are just physically not in the city especially in case of people who can have decision to give money for sponsorship or not – big bosses are leaving Moscow as early they can. People of all professions on this period are work a lot to finish year work, so they have no time to go for exhibitions. Places (like cafes or galleries) have booked time from November. What else should I say if on our exhibition was only one tutor – what I think is really bad. How exhibiLena Shagieva
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tion can be marked via book? This brief gave me a lot of question to answer. In point of view we are the worst group and at the same time we were the best group. Yes, we didn’t find any sponsors, probably we can invite were people for the opening, but I guess that our group has the greatest experience. We didn’t have money from our friend (as far as I know most all of sponsors that other groups had were there friends). So we were making he whole stuff honestly. Also, we had a lot of things that we were making in group – I mean that we erased all moments were conflicts could be born. We spend a lot of time together, we were learning from each other and I guess, if to repeat the brief now we will be the best group with the best exhibition. I loved also the fact the we all are really different – some of us are much more considered about concert, some of us are more about how works were looking. We all are different and I guess during this brief we all go closer to the harmony between ‘how’ and ‘what’ I loved this brief – it was the best one, but thanks God is over.
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Afterword
Making of the making of
Writing, sorting out and gathering contents. Layout and writing texts.
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