Week 5 - my final days at the iF Award internship

For my final two days at the internship, I did some more testing of the app to make sure that the new version was running smoothly. I had great conversation with the software developer, it’s really been a valuable experience getting to know him and getting insight in how to develop an app.

I did some administrative tasks related to marketing of the app, and also helped the videographer which has helped me understand more and more about branding and how conscious you need to be about what choices you make.

On my last day I finished up some tasks I have been working on and the founder Stacie took me out to lunch which was a great ending to this internship! It has been a good experience and I have learned a lot, I particularly have appreciated being involved in the app development and also the variety of tasks around the gallery has helped me gain some experience that I didn’t have before. I’m really happy for the insight I have got now in the art world and what it’s like to really work in a team in reality!

I hope that the gallery thrives and FairArtFair will reach its full potential! I am looking forward to seeing how it evolves.

I’d like to thank everyone that I have met during this internship, and that has taken the time to educate me about their profession and given me advice on my career. I really can’t say enough that it’s something I appreciate so much.

I’m looking forward to seeing what is in store for me next, and primarily preparing right now for my participation in an exhibition for London Design Festival. Exciting times to come!

Emelie

Week 5 - Seeing app developments coming to life

Yesterday I started my final week at Unit1 Gallery Workshop. We started off with our staff meeting, talking about upcoming exhibitions and happenings at the gallery and with the app. I met one of my colleagues that just moved to London, it was really nice to meet her in real life for the first time! I got an assignment from the software developer which I spent almost the entire day working on. It was a very satisfying task related to one of the app features which was going to be implemented in the new release, so that was exciting to think about. I also did some other updates on the app.

Today I worked on more administrative tasks related to the app and writing push notifications. It was good to think about what content was important for the users to know. I also got to evaluate the new version of the app and come up with new ideas for the future development, which I shared with the software developer. I gave the videographer some of my opinions on the film she made as well. Mostly this week I have been doing app-related task, both design, administrative and development. It’s been a great experience to have the multi-layered approach to working with apps.

Also I saw the app assignment I did yesterday being implemented in the app today, which feels really exciting to see something I have been doing on my computer making it into the real app, and that all the users will see it and hopefully enjoy the experience!

I am looking forward to the remaining two days of the internship, but sad to think about to say goodbye to the rest of the staff!

Emelie

Week 4 - FairArtFair 1 year anniversary

FairArtFair celebrated 1 year anniversary on the 1st of September which is exciting to think about how much that can happen in only one year, and how the app already is so successful. I got to go into testflight and evaluate the new version of the app, discover new things, and give feedback to the software developer. It was fun to play around with the app and see what the new features were and how it could be improved even more.

I also kept working alongside my colleague who is a videographer, working on the story for the next video. I gave my opinion on the new films and communicated feedback, it was valuable to learn how to give and receive feedback on the creative direction.

Also this week I got to see how to archive work properly, what to think about such as natural lighting and how shadows will fall. Since we were photographing paintings and other quite flat pieces it is very different from documenting more three-dimensional objects because you only really need to photograph the piece straight from the front. You have to try to accurately capture the colours and make sure they match reality.

I did also work on another feature of the app, where I did some writing and I had to think about the language so it would fit the branding of FairArtFair which was valuable.

I am looking forward to my 5th and final week coming up!

Emelie

Week 4 - More video work

Yesterday we started off the morning with a staff meeting, talking about what is going to happen next over the coming months at the gallery. It was interesting to hear about how the timetable is planned and how to run a business in terms of different strategies, what events to arrange and why.

I then focused on finishing a task related to the FairArtFair app that I started last week when meeting the software developer. I finished the task and sent it over, and felt happy about the work that I had done and how it will be featured in the next update of the app. It’s exciting to be part of a team and see the work and ideas being implemented in real life! And not just doing concepts, but actually seeing things realised in reality. I hope that the users of the app find the new update good and useful.

I also spent the day planning the schedule for the gallery for the foreseeable future and it was an administrative task I think can be good to know for the future. I also helped out with some video work towards the end of the day.

Today I continued helping with filming a new video that will be uploaded to social media tomorrow. I understood from the feedback that I got that it’s very important to pay attention to details and that you have to keep the brand in mind with every aesthetic decision, which totally makes sense.

I saw the work of my colleague that’s a videographer and gave my opinion about the next two videos, and I think that she is really creative and has great skills!

I also ended up doing some more updates and adding more content to the app which was a task that I have been doing throughout the internship that is important and satisfying as well.

Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings!

Emelie

Week 3 - meeting the software developer

Yesterday I was working continuously on the app, understanding the core values of the company and how that should be clearly communicated in the language. It was great to learn more about branding and how to think and adapt my language to fit into the identity of the app. It has been probably one of the most challenging tasks, to understand the branding and how I have to learn how to design for someone else. It’s been a really valuable experience and something I will really appreciate in the future I think.

I also continued working on the film storyboard, and based on the feedback me and my colleague received, we tried changing the film so it would communicate more clearly what the message was. I really enjoy working alongside my colleagues and learning from them and it makes me happy when they listen to my opinions as well! I think they are a really great team.

Today I met the software developer for the first time. He was very open to hearing about my opinions of the app which was greatly appreciated! I would let him know my ideas of how the app could evolve and bring up possible issues that could surface in the future, and it seems like he had thought a lot about it and put a lot of work into the app. He explained how everything happens gradually and I understood that creating an app is a long, complex process. It was very impressive to hear the thought process. He gave me a task to work on during the day which was enjoyable!

Emelie

Week 3 - closing in on app features

Now I have started my third week at Unit1 Gallery Workshop. We started off with a staff meeting discussing what’s next for the FairArtFair app and that we will meet with the app developer at the end of this week, which I am looking forward to so that we could ask questions and hear more about what’s in the works. I’m looking forward to meeting yet another member of staff to learn from.

Then I spent the day focusing on a particular feature of the app, and how through photography that feature can be enhanced. I had to think about what kind of photographs that would benefit the development and make the experience streamlined for the user. I tried different images and got the suggestion from the founder to try close ups which I did, and then it really started to come together.

On my second day this week I spent the day working together with my colleague who is a videographer. I came up with storyboards for new films she is creating, and she gave me feedback on what she thought about the concept and whether or not it fit the brand. We will keep working on these storyboards together. We also worked on statements that would represent the brand and accurately communicate the core values. We also thought about how the app will communicate with the users on a rolling basis. In the afternoon we got feedback from the founder and will keep going with these tasks tomorrow.

I also learned how to structure the schedule for the gallery which might not be an art/design task but very helpful to know for any job in the future. At the very end of the day I joined the workshop that the founder Stacie was hosting about the FairArtFair app. It was great to witness how she speaks to her audience and opening up a candid discussion with the app users, demonstrating how the app works and talking about future things that are in the works! It was a good opportunity to see how you can represent and talk about your brand/company.

Week 2 - Social media and inspiration

Yesterday I got to help the social media manager to create some content for instagram stories. I filmed some of the artists works, with close ups and good lighting. I think the paintings look particularly beautiful in the morning sunlight. It was fun to get small tasks to do and think about what details of the paintings that would be interesting to showcase.

I also kept updating the FairArtFair app with new content, and realised there is a lot of opportunities for artists in the UK. Possible exhibitions and residencies to apply to, which made me think about my own work and how I would love to keep exhibiting my projects next year.

At the end of the day, I started doing some research about social media marketing and TikTok, which was fun to see how other artists, curators and gallery owners are approaching the platform. I also thought about how we can take our own individual approach to the app and what could be entertaining for users to see while still trying to stick to the brand identity of FairArtFair and Unit1 Gallery Workshop.

Today I kept doing research about TikTok and social media, and got inspired by the accounts I was looking into, how people were graphically structuring their feeds. I also kept updating FairArtFair with more opportunities, and it made me think about what I want to do next with my own work. I also invigilated the exhibition the last two days, and that also inspired me to think about what I can do myself. I would really like to take the biomaterial I have experimented with during my final MA project and instead of applying it to products, set a new project topic for myself to create sculptures out of these pieces. I felt really inspired seeing the Radical Residency exhibition, how each artist has their own quest and identity, and it motivates me to think about how my own style is going to evolve.

My second week at Unit1 Gallery Workshop has been a great experience to learn more about app development but also to get inspired by other people’s work!

Emelie

Week 2 - FairArtFair App

Yesterday we started the day with a staff meeting about the FairArtFair app. We talked about the upcoming new features, how to reach out to our target audiences and possible collaborations. I had the chance to shadow my colleague Soo and understand her thought process when she makes videos to showcase tools, features and news about the app. It was interesting to learn a little more about the software she uses and methods of making. We brainstormed together what the video would be about and how to communicate the message. 

I got to work a lot with the app and to use the features, and it’s a really exciting thing to be helping out with an app that is a brand new experience. Through using it we also discovered areas of improvement that we then would proceed to forward to the software developer. I also got to hear about what’s going to happen next at Unit1 Gallery Workshop and it seems like an eventful autumn coming up with exhibitions and other things happening!

Today I continued helping out with the App content and to hear about an upcoming workshop to introduce artists to the different features and how the app can help you get discovered, which I think is a pretty cool thing about FairArtFair that everyone gets a chance to show their art to the world and to connect with curators and art lovers. 

Tomorrow I will continue working with the interface and choose some images for a specific section, I am really interested in photography and think that it will be a fun assignment. Also it will be important to think about what an image really communicates so that the users clearly understands at an instant what the image represents. I think I will need to think from a user perspective from someone using the app for the first time, how they can navigate in the app with ease with help from the photos we are choosing.

Emelie

Week 1 - Opening of the Radical Residency VII exhibition

Yesterday was the opening of the Radical Residency VII exhibition. The turn up was great with a lot of visitors mingling around the space, discussing the pieces and enjoying themselves. I was documenting the event with my camera, and tried to capture some candid shots of the artists explaining their works. I got to learn about what kind of shots that are important to take to properly illustrate the atmosphere of the event.

I also prepared documents for the exhibition and practised my graphic design skills, and aimed to try to understand the brand identity of the gallery. I spent a lot of time with my colleague Bellara, and we supported each other throughout the day and the event. I am looking forward to continue working with her and understanding her role as operational manager.

The amount of work that goes into an exhibition cannot be understated, everyone involved has been working really hard and it was a great feeling seeing it all come together and to see how happy the artists were talking to the visitors.

Today I shadowed Stacie and Bellara when they were working on the FairArtFair app. We talked about the next film clips that were being sent out showcasing the new feature Geolocation, and how it will be great for artists to be able to mark where on the map they are located. I also spent some time brainstorming about the app, Bellara asked me what my first impressions were and general thoughts I had on the features. She said that my brainstorming session will be forwarded to the app developer, and it feels really exciting to be part of the conversation about an app as it’s not something I have experienced before.

Next week I will collaborate with Soo who works with filmmaking for the social media platforms, I look forward to getting to know her better and seeing how she works. I am curious what softwares she uses and her thought process when making her short films, because they are so informative and well communicated.

In summary, it’s been an interesting first week with lots of different tasks and topics of discussion! I am curious to see what next week brings.

Emelie

Week 1 – The first days at Unit 1 Gallery Workshop

I started my first day at Unit 1 Gallery Workshop meeting the founder Stacie and being introduced to the new Radical Residency exhibition that were in process of being installed. I were impressed by the broad range of diverse, interesting pieces in various different media and materials. I am very excited about learning more about curating a space, and already got inspiration on how to present pieces in a way that enhances the properties and shapes, taking into account lighting and shadows. This made me think a lot about how not only the piece itself has an expression but its surroundings are important as well.

I also learned about how to photograph art works, and am looking forward to expand my documenting skills as I previously mostly have experience from photographing products or other 3d objects. The space has beautiful natural light and I love the fact that it feels like an art environment and not a typical office.

I look forward to learning more about the app Fair Art Fair. App development and interfaces are new territories of design for me in my professional life, and I think it will help me gain more knowledge about the world of contemporary art.

Finally, I met the previous iF award recipient Amir Dehghan who told me about his experience and how he met a lot of interesting people during his internship, and how it opened doors for him to exhibit more. I’m looking forward to speaking to him more as well as getting to know the other artists around the gallery! On Thursday evening there will be an exhibition event and I am intrigued to hear the artists explain the narratives of their works.

On my second day, I met my new colleagues Bellara and Sue. I sat in on a staff meeting talking about the app and instagram. I am excited to get to know my colleagues better and to work with them on producing content for the social media channels.

The weather was very hot today but we all kept working ambitiously towards the opening of the exhibition tomorrow. I put emphasis on learning a new graphic language of how to present art works digitally in a document. I fine-tuned my editing of the images and learned about how the images has to represent the works realistically in terms of size, colour balance and how to most accurately represent how the piece is experienced in real life.

One of the artists came in to prepare his film installation for the show, and I was very intrigued by the way he approaches film making, it felt very different on first glance. I am looking forward to seeing his work playing in the exhibition event tomorrow as well as the other artists work being experienced by the guests.

Emelie

Week 9 – Learning how to be reactive within the industry

Today we picked up from the conversation myself and Damien were having yesterday about elements morphing when creating a new project. We focused on how I should react and respond to things within the art world as a gallerist/director, whilst maintaining a strong artistic direction and maintaining a reliable brand. Damien explained how now that we have the green light on the space, I should nail the first wave of artists I take in, the programme and calibre of the programme to make it legacy piece for the future artists/employers/collaborators that will be attracted in the future.

Next up, we got onto organising and editing the digital outlets (Instagram/this website) that will be dedicated to this programme. This is brilliant experience into social media managing but also as an editor of text and curation of a strong visual profile. Though, this got cut short as Portobello Road Radio came to the muse and I had to jump on doing some digital tech work, running a live stream and quality checking the audio.

Week 9 – Getting the green light from the property manager

In our initial meeting this week which took place on Tuesday, Damien introduced the week’s plan. Thursday, today, we originally planned to further review and critique the proposal for opening my own space, “The Association”, contextualising the resources I’ve gathered throughout my time on the internship and also a brief interview with myself about the whole experience.

Though, I arrived bearing brilliant news! The previous day I had been helping with tech work for Johnny T from Harlesden High Street. As I stated in last week’s blog, Johnny manages multiple spaces, so I went into the day of work with an aim. The idea was to introduce him to my model, and strike some sort of deal where I would do his tech work in exchange for a space, and exactly that happened. Johnny loved the idea of it, and assured me that as soon as a space popped up which would work well with my model he’d let me know, Presenting me with the timeline of up to 3 months to receive the space. My focus quickly shifted onto the concept, idea and consistency of what my association would be.

So today me and Damien talked only about the gallery concept. We came up with the name, he pressed the importance of maintaining a consistent outlet of artworks/artists. The ways in which I would eligible for funding, licences I’d need for specific funding streams, a full breakdown of expendables, ect. Having a grace period of up to 3 months, means that I can crystallise on the concept so that as soon as the space opens the programme is ready, artists are there and the ball is rolling. Though I do anticipate that many things will morph into something unexpected/unplanned for as that’s the nature of most endeavours, especially artistic.

Week 8 – Technical with Portobello Radio and more art philosophy with Damien

Today when I arrived at the Muse we initially started the day off crystallising the plan I have with opening my own space and also the funding application with Damien. The aim of this conversation was to understand the funding process and the importance of why, rather than what, as the why is the reason you get backing. This therefore meant going through it with a fine toothpick in hope of creating a clearer and more focused model. Alongside this he reiterated the importance of Johnny, the rates reliefs scheme and opportunities that the scheme provides would fit in perfectly with when testing my model.

The plan for the rest of the day was to do technical work for the radio show, specifically running the livestream. We finally managed to run the livestream which was brilliant as we could use our new medium of steaming for the Tavistock festival. The work entailed, videoing the event, making sure the stream was running at a high enough standard and that the footage was consistent in style and quality.

Week 8 – Planning of Tavistock 2.0 and talks about artistic direction

Today I arrived at the Muse with the brilliant news that Tavistock 2.0 has got the go ahead, which means I get double the experience this time round.

When I arrived at the Muse, Damien set me the task of sourcing all the acts contacts including the website. This was super valuable as I gained experience in organising contacts and also ways of building bridges with acts. He also gave me a quick run down of my tasks this time round for the festival, so again I has something to be excited and get ready for.

Aside from this I had a conversation with Damien with regards to my artistic career, time management and energy management. One thing I’ve learnt during the course of this internship is new alleys within the industry for work alongside my practice. I found that I was overwhelmed by the sea of future opportunities and lost my previous focus that is my own practice. After discussing this with Damien he grounded me and reiterated the value of having a personal practice, helping me structure a future that was balanced rather than sporadic.

Week 7 – Remote Curation of EFX exhibition

This was the first show I solely curating by myself, an exhibition that has 80+ artworks all of different mediums and styles and includes 4 artists. An extremely valuable experience as it further challenged my understanding of art and how works can communicate with each other even though technically they are different. I could imagine the space remotely in my head, so therefore I could vividly see each piece in the space.

After creating an floorplan and a cabinets list I submitted my plan to Damien for him to go though. Everything with the curation went well and we all agreed on the layout ready for the install the next day. Though, later on that night I unfortunately got pinged for Covid so therefore I could not help with the install.

Week 6 – Meeting with Harlesden High Street & Paul Vanstone

Today me and Damien headed out to meet 2 individuals. Johnny Tannah who runs Harlesden High Street and also Paul Vanstone. Firstly Johnny, he is an individual I’m highly interested in as his gallery model runs from the rents relief programme a scheme I’ve been looking into for opening my own space. In addition to that his space focuses on emerging BAME artists , again a highly valuable individual to build a bridge with.

We arrived at Johnny’s space and initially got an insight into his background. I told him about my idea of opening my own space, to which he replied I could use one of his spaces to try my model on before investing in my own space. His proposition has since been on my mind 24/7 and has become what you could call my new art project. To which I offered all of my help with his current spaces, offering technician work, great experience for myself and something that would be brilliant for my CV as his space is a highly regarded space.

Secondly I met with Paul Vanstone at his studio space. It was extremely feeding to see a studio and a workflow that was completely different to mine. Paul is a stone carver producing large scale figurative works from his studio in NW London. We discussed his practice and workflow in depth which was extremely insightful. In addition to this we traded contacts so we could keep track of each others work as he liked the sound and origins or my own practice.

Week 5 – Interview with Portobello Road Radio

Throughout the start of my internship, one of bi-products of the programme is the fact that I’m better at articulating myself and polishing how I describe my work compared to when the programme began. This is due to being thrown into the networking as a part of the internship, meeting multiple artists and having to introduce myself. Initially, throughout this programme, I would regularly slip on my words and also ramble, so this Friday would be a good test to see if I could articulate myself better as I’ll be doing a live interview with Portabello Road Radio station.

I arrived at the gallery and got told that I also had to be the sound engineer for the show as Greg, the previous host/engineer has had to isolate because of COVID. This became a day that would both test my technical skills and my artistic articulation. As the day proceeded, I successfully mixed and mastered the audio for the live feed but also managed to use the radio show as a platform to promote my work without stumbling over my words - a huge boost in confidence and proof of my blossoming skills in articulation.

Week 5 - Introduction to Funding and CIC

Today was a day I’ve been looking forward to ever since Damien sent out the plan earlier this week. The plan was to run through ways of accessing funding, an area of development that is not covered throughout my university course. Specifically, we’re going to be covering the ways in writing application forms and also the various government initiatives out there that support the arts.

Firstly, we started off the day studying the ways in which we can apply for funding via the Arts Council, I spent about an hour analysing the examples they had on their website and asking Damien any questions I had that weren’t covered on the website. Damien introduced me to multiple platforms where you can find smaller pots of funding and also borough-specific arts funding. He explained the different ways to target each level of funding body and the projects that they each sway towards.

He later explained a government initiative called ‘CIC’, this initiative allows cultural projects to exist in disused commercial sites rent-free. This grabbed both mine and Jose’s (Muse Resident) attention as we understand the challenge young artists have in finding space and representation to develop their practice. After a brief introduction to it, myself and Jose jumped to the conclusion of collaborating on this, whilst also mutually agreeing on the green light. Damien opened a new chapter of my professional career whilst also at the same time, finding a focus for this internship program we can get our teeth into. A week today I will be meeting the director of Harlesden High Street Gallery, a project that Muse supports, and also a project that uses this exact initiative.

Week 4 - Yuichiro's show opening

Today was my second gallery opening since I started, after Paul Smith, an opening that introduced me to multiple gallerist and artists. The focus this time round was on how to manager the gallery on an opening - how to push a sale, peer-to-peer marketing and also meeting more people. Gosia started the day off explaining all of her knowledge on how to use my social skills to get a sale but also the technical side of taking the payment.

I also met and helped a working artists at The Muse and an ex-residence called Rory. He talked in-depth about the opportunity that is the residency, how it benefited him and his practice. In addition his insight on the opportunity, I made another friend that was a practicing artist, an opportunity to collaborate in the future.

The highlight of the night was when the gallerists from the J/M gallery discussed my practice with me after they were initially intrigued via the board meeting with KCAW. This conversation resulted them wanting to visit my studio once I got one in October and the potential of a future show, this was due to the fact that both of the head gallerists were passionate about the focus of my practice but also the result of talking about my practice and experience of the internship on the board meeting with KCAW.

Week 4 - Tavistock marketing strategy

Today I arrived at the Gallery and Damien set me the task of marketing the Tavistock Festival. This took the form of both physical and digital marketing.

First I went about searching “free festivals” on Google’s search engine, then from there creating a page for Tav in each and all of the events platforms. Secondly, Damien showed me the way MailChimp can be used to spread the events visibility on a more direct level than posting it on platforms. After that, we decided to do some physical marketing, going to nearby galleries, shops, handing out physical flyers and discussing the event in person .

This day was super valuable as I got first hand insight on how to market an event. I understand now the ways in which each marketing strategy has a different effect, and from there being able to prioritise which one would be the best for the job at hand. My future plan for marketing would involve me going in person to galleries, handing my portfolio and discussing my work as I believe it’s the most effective for connecting on a peer-to-peer basis.