Convenience Gallery: Day 1

I am struck by how, here at Convenience Gallery, this space is not pulling me in any particular direction yet. It doesn't feel charged in any particular way. Having come from Spadina museum, which is supercharged, I have not yet found a way into the space here at convenience gallery. I wonder what to do next? I am no longer able to insert stripes willy nilly into a space to create space. It seems now too arbitrary. Too obscene. Too hegemonic. Thou shalt create stripes, the Lord sayeth, and now the Lord taketh away. Those days are gone. (Alas, whatever shall I do now?). How am I to proceed? Well, I have started here with a kernel of a beginning. A little diagram that Scott drew for me showing the measurements of the Convenience Gallery window. I wish you could see it. It is so cute. I love when people draw me diagrams. I remember the one my husband drew for me (the second diagram he drew for me ever... the first with his phone number I still have somewhere). It had the directions for finding his parents' house on it. It had a little car on it, showing me driving to meet him, and a little house for the destination. It also had roads, and lampposts, and an N with an arrow attached to it pointing North. Then, in the corner, in big block letters was written "NOT TO SCALE!" Needless to say, I fell in love with him that day. (I wonder if that was his intention?) At any rate, Scott's diagram is my point of entry. If I could create the interest of people for wondering what is inside this space from the outside, that would be interesting. Or, present a diagram of what is inside, or not. This is making no sense. How do I create an idea, a feeling that I bring into existence through concept? I have made my own version of Scott's diagram, and it is by no means as lovely as his, but I like it nonetheless. It is spare. I present it to you on this page. Oh, and I've converted his fractions to decimal, simply because I lost patience searching for how to type fractions into my computer version. The authenticity is eroded by laziness. Now I'm off topic.

Figure 1: Drawing Research: My version of Scott's hand drawn diagram of the Convenience Gallery window measurements



OK. So, what do I do here? I'm feeling the pressure of time, of knowing that I have to produce something in a week, and I really don't like deadlines of any sort. I should probably go outside soon, and once again look at the window from the street. This will be the vantage point for the work, and here I am inside (where it's warm) wondering about the work. Really, if I were a committed artist, I would be out there, across the street, being with the building and the site from where the work will be viewed. Like Farley Mowat. Or Tom Thompson. That's commitment. I'm a weenie. So then, now I will make my way outside (brr). OK. Just came back inside after having spent about two minutes out there. Took three pictures from across the street. And it occurred to me: how am I going to cause people to pause and reflect when all they're probably thinking about it getting home. Or, getting to their destination wherever it may be. Out of the cold. Out of the chill. Ooh, my laptop is nice and warm on my legs, like a little campfire. I did take some nice photos inside this space of the checkerboard floor. I could create a checkerboard pattern in the window, an homage to Piero della Francesca. There would be precedence. Or, making a deep painting that extends perspectivally outwards from eye level on the street. That means it would angle upwards and into the space. I could create the idea of warmth. A roaring fire. It's so unpleasantly cold out there. A warm Piero della Francesca. It's too bad that I need architectural forms, linearity to show perspective. Oh, but wait! Palm trees grown in a row would be just fine. They would recede. Still, a lone palm is more romantic. This is insane. OK. I could create a drawing, half on the back wall of the space, and half on the front. And now I'm having ideas of making a wall, a door that is slightly ajar with blackout fabric behind it so it looks like it is dark and there is a space behind the door that is undetermined. And maybe I could put a drawing on top of the door and overtop of the window on a diagonal like I thought of before. FUCK. There is so much I could do, it's starting to make my head hurt. What is the right thing to do? What does the space call for? I like the idea of creating a backdrop, a fake door with the blackout space behind it. But really, that's just crazy talk. Also, I'm lazy, and I don't want to be building anything too expensive or involved, because it's only going to be up for one month, and it's a lot of work. And, knowing how I do things, I always have to build something twice: once to figure out how not to do it, and a second time to do it right. I think that every artwork I've ever made I've done two times. It's the law.