I think that’s Clapton, isn’t it? (“Let it grow”.) Anyway, that’s the situation I’m in at the moment. I’ve made a momentous decision and I have to admit it feels a bit scary.
Much of the past two days has been spent dismantling a set of transportable display screens I constructed many years ago. These were made when I received an invitation to exhibit in a venue which was really not adequately equipped to display my work–although as it was a cathedral I felt that it was worth trying to make it happen. So I made sixteen wooden screens, each illuminated with its own light, and readily transportable in a light van. They have served me well over the years, and a part of the cost of their construction has been recouped by hiring them out on several occasions.
Recently, however, several things have made me consider whether or not they have reached the end of the road. I had difficulty in getting insurance for me to drive the van for the last engagement. They do require a great deal of effort to put up and dismantle if I have to do it alone. Most of all, however, in recent exhibition venues display screens have been supplied. This week, however, an additional consideration imposed itself on me. I think that my ambitions for exhibition space have risen to the point at which I am looking at places in which my home-made screens would appear rather short on professional finish.
The result of this internal discussion has been the decision that from now on I will take myself with sufficient seriousness as an exhibitor to expect that I will not be required to provide my own display equipment. As I unscrewed the frames today it felt like a very momentous decision, but if I don’t take myself seriously, who will?