Second Seating Returns

Busy days at Diverse Works recreating portions of 2009's Second Seating. I wish all seven of the collaborating artists were represented in this redo, but space did not permit. The original show was huge, covering over 2500 square feet. This Second Seating comeback shares about 2000 square feet with five other Idea Fund grantees. The gallery is full, the projects diverse. Where might we have hung Jesse's coffee cup batik? As a swath across a corner of the gallery? Maybe. I still have Gonzo's crazy orange and yellow chandelier, but his terrific table and four chairs are long gone. Ted Estrada's table is no long either and I bet those pinata parrots have flown off too. So, here's to all of the artists who participated in the original Second Seating and are not represented in this rehash called 'Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other'. I am preparing a folder with information about all the artists in that installation on Chenevert. It was way bigger than what we are recreating.
Last Friday, ES and moved two car loads of stuff from Sonny's place. Box after box after box stacked up in a corner of the DW gallery. Am I a hoarder or what?

Beautiful still life in a U.S. Postal box.

Worked Saturday on the Wall of Plates and got started on the banquet table. Rachel hung Mercedes Fernandez' two tall embroidered paintings and they look good.

On Monday, Paul and I picked up the table for the Clorox chandelier from Sonny's warehouse and then stopped by my house to pack - very carefully - the spun sugar cathedral and the Hughes Tool pipe lights. Thank you, Sonny, for loaning us your red truck for the second time.

Sugar cathedral arrives at Diverse Works all in one piece.

Paul and Taylor hung three chandeliers on Monday. All the light bulbs work. Hurray! However, the new structure for the Clorox chandelier has a larger diameter than I'd planned - can't control everything - so this morning I'll cut up a white tablecloth and knot in more widths of fabric between the swags of filigreed Clorox bottles. That mirrored ball light should be almost obscured and it's not YET. But it will be by mid-day today.

On Friday morning the Wall of Plates will be totally finished when Jose Solis delivers his totem of china cups and vases for the center piece. He's traveling from Brownsville with the work on Thursday. In a few minutes I am off to DW for another day of assembling.
DW has been great. They actually have folks who help with the installation. Paul was been wonderful. He rebuilt an entire new structure for the wall of plates. Rachel is terrific at overseeing and planning our progress. Taylor was a wonderful help yesterday. Wish she were there again today while I'm up on the ladder messing with the Clorox bottle chandelier.
I was surprised by all this assistance. I'd expected I'd have to find folks to help me get it all together. Couldn't have imagined all the help I'm getting from DW. Thank you, thank you.

OK, it's Tuesday and time to pick up those few remaining Clorox bottles from Sonny's and get on over to DW and up on that ladder. And after that, on to the banquet table which needs a lot of tweaking.

Second Seating Comeback

Second Seating, September 2009

Several weeks ago I received an email from Diverse Works. Second Seating, that full blown installation I created in 2009, has been selected for a rerun in July, along with a dozen other of the sixty projects  DW supported with Andy Warhol Idea Fund grants. Nice.
Especially nice, as I saved so much of Second Seating, most of it packed away at Sonny's place. I can never bear to get rid of an entire installation. For years, I held on to the enormous Styrofoam boulder that Carol Gerhardt and I made for Silicon Stones in 1985. In my back garden, there are at least a ton of the river stones we used in that Houston Center For Photography installation. I've moved them twice. Imagine.

This morning I went to Sonny's to sort through many, many boxes.  Emptied several big trash bags stuffed with filigreed Clorox bottles. Must give thought to how I will reconfigure a Clorox bottle chandelier. Much of the original chandelier was used for a commissioned piece after the exhibition closed. Made a bit smaller version that could be used in a dining room. But enough filigreed bottles remain so that I can create swags. Can the swags be turned into a Maypole on the DW ceiling with that twirling mirrored ball in its center?

Original installtion of Wall of Plates, 2009.

Sure hope that DW can/will actually move the Wall of Plates into their space. We'll have to cut the wall in half and reassemble, as their doors aren't big enough for it to pass through. Days ago, in the back garden, I spread out  the 10 x 20 foot patchwork table cloth that so many women helped piece together from those fabrics damaged during Hurricanie Ike. Sadly, I tore sections of it apart about six months ago for no good reason.  I will figure something out, create a smaller banquet table.

Detail of patchwork banquet tablecloth.

This morning, I covered the floor with plates and other paraphernalia. Just had to see what remained. I have plenty to work with. I sense already that I am going to be in severe edit mode. After all, I am sharing the DW gallery space with other Idea Fund artists.

Here's hoping though, that even a reduced Banquet Table will look something like this. Found the rooster and all the pieces of that glass chandelier this morning. Everything is ready for re-installation. Thanks, DW, for offering literally offering a second seating for Second Seating.