This afternoon my wife and I went over to Skipton to collect my “Green Man” exhibition, which has been on show there during the past month. The process of packing up and removal all went very smoothly, and I was in and out of the place in around half an hour. Reflecting on this experience on the way home, I realised that I was reaping the benefit of a long learning process, in which I have made sure that the furniture on the back of the picture can’t snag on other things. I’ve decided to do away with the ubiquitous bubble-wrap, which is time-consuming to put in place, especially if you are trying to save money by re-using it. I use “mini-rolls” of a very light disposable film, which is very quick and easy to position.
I contrasted my experience with that of helping a fellow-artist to pack up his exhibition recently. He had mirror-plates left in position, which can easily become a weapon against your own and other people’s work if not removed before packing. Ditto with screw-rings used to hang the piece. All of these should be removed before storage. He was storing some canvases without any kind of protection, so that three of his works had actually been scratched in transit. In order to save money we were using old bubble-wrap for a part of the time, and this was a messy, laborious and not fully effective process.
As artists we put so much of our energy into the creation of work, but often don’t give it there dignity of safe and effective conditions of storage and transport.