As the rest of my work is almost over, I thought I could look at how I could progress my work in other directions. This is based on some collages which I meant to put up on the blog earlier, but now it seems quite fitting.

The original photos are from The Caravan Club magazine website, where you can view (unusually sunny) photos of sites. Earlier in Audiences we were asked to think about where our work could be sited, but now I'm thinking about what to do with my piece once the exhibition and project are over. I think the installation would look even odder placed in a caravan site, even though this is the right context for the objects inside. I wonder how a specifically caravanning audience would respond? Would they perhaps take it as offensive? Although the installation looks big in the gallery space it would look tiny in comparison to the caravans at the site. This would work in highlighting just how squashed the space is.

What I found most interesting in this project was the responses I got from people who saw the caravan paraphenalia build up in my studio space. It seemed everyone had something to say about caravans; lots of people had specific memories of caravanning as a child (I particularly liked the memory of condensation on the windows that Rory had - it made him feel 'quite sick'). Even people who didn't go on caravan holidays had other memories, of camping holidays, of going to a friends caravan, of always wishing they had been on a caravan holiday. I enjoyed the discussion people wanted to have with me about this; it's something I found happened with my meat project and something I will probably continue to try and use.

How to harness this is difficult. Do I stay in the space and let people talk to me about their memories? The artists 'Pest', who are currently at PSL, have set up an office for people to walk into, where they collect any information they find interesting. Perhaps I could record people's memories - this could also be played within the installation space, instead of the whistling kettle recording. I did look at postcards, where people could write down their memories, but I think this is verging on the twee again. Garry came up with an interesting idea about filming just the open side of the installation, to capture people trying to squeeze in. Perhaps I could do a similar thing, but instead aim to capture people's personal responses as they look at the work.

I always get annoyed that I come up with so many other ideas after I 've finished a project, but I suppose you have to go all the way through a project to find the things that really interested you.

Just a quick note, to do with some reading I've done lately. I recently did a presentation for my Image and Culture elective which I wanted to tie in with both my studio work and the issue of audiences. I was looking at reception theory, which relates to how a work of art directly engages the viewer and how it sets up a 'dialogue' between the viewer and the artwork. I thought this would be interesting to relate back to installation art and at the same time how I could use it to think more closely about my own work. As well as looking at 'Hypnodreamdruff' by Georgina Starr, I looked at Janet Cardiff's "Muriel Lake Incident", which I have taken inspiration from for my own installation.
In this, there are two elements which are used to directly involve the viewer in the work. The perspective of the box places the viewer sitting in the balcony of the cinema, even though the size is wrong. I could have involved something like this in my own installation - perhaps making the box smaller at the back to increase the feeling of compression as the viewer got inside (almost like an Alice in Wonderland type effect). However, more interesting to me is the use of sound - not only does the viewer hear the narrative on the screen, but also the sounds of the cinema around them - someone eating popcorn, someone talking to their left. This is why I feel that the sound in my installation will add more to the viewer's perception of being inside a caravan - because this element positions the viewer in a certain place, time, mood, and what I am most interested in is whether this transports them to a certain memory of caravanning. In my installation I think it will be important to place the sound correctly, as it will be played through speakers not headphones. I like the idea that Garry has of placing the sound under the seat, so that it resonates through the viewer's body as they are sat within the installation.