Placement Day 1

Wednesday 13^th February 2019 

10:30 am - 3.30 pm

Today was the beginning of my placement. Walking in, Charlotte and Glen welcomed me, made me feel comfortable and gave me an outline of the tasks that were scheduled to be done throughout the day. Although I was nervous, I didn't let it affect my productivity and willingness to help . The plan was to trace the skirting boards ready for the paint to be rolled over the walls. Just before starting I was very impressed on how the days were laid out, the time frame of each task and considering what is needed before the opening. This method of detailed planning is definitely something that I will put into practice in the future. My outfit, all black, was definitely not the correct attire for messy work, luckily Glen had a spare apron, which was life saving... for my clothes! (correct attire: noted!) At Airspace there is no hot water / heating, so the apron definitely helped fight the cold, well to a certain extent. The plug-in heaters were warm but only to a certain distance and unfortunately, I couldn't shuffle it along with me.

Glen decided to put some music on in the background which consisted of heavy bass, old school pop music and instrumental/ calm music. I was very pleased that he broke the silence with some music, being the first time with them and my extreme social awkwardness, definitely made me feel more comfortable and opened up a field of music that I haven't heard before.

When it came to painting,  Glen gave me some tips which were time saving on how to apply the paint on the wall, he also mentioned that because the walls were already white, they just needed one coat. 

The painting job was messy in terms of drips and fine splatters produced by the rollers (all over hair and glasses). By getting in the zone, I found that the painting/rolling as well as being exhausting, was very therapeutic. Without realizing I managed to coat 3 whole walls in less than an hour! When it comes to any sort of task I always try to finish what I start, so I was motivated to do as much as possible that day.

Undergraduate helping

By Glen Stoker - Airspace

Charlotte and I engaged into a few conversations, she was curious to know why I chose Staffordshire University, if it had access to many facilities and what my current practice is exploring. At Staffordshire university, the facilities are so useful with almost anything an artist wants to explore, whether it is photography (digital or processed), wood, metal, ceramics or surface pattern. My current practice, though, falls into performance. She mentioned that she wouldn't be confident in portraying her self in a dance situation, but she would happily record herself doing an activity.

Glen also asked about my practice, interested to know if people perform for me and how its recorded. I proceeded to tell him that most of my performances have included me as I can translate my thoughts into actions and into what I specifically want. Furthermore, I record them on a camera with a tripod. He was very intrigued by how I work and he even called me "brave". I guess I can be sometimes!

Artist- Charlotte Dawson 

By Glen Stoker - Airspace

There was still a quarter of the room that was yet to be painted, but we had let the filler dry over night as Glen masked off doors to have a seamless finish on the walls. In the end it was a very productive day, everyone was moving and working hard. Surprisingly, I managed to forget how cold it actually was. My arms and back were aching but that did not detract from what we accomplished today! Meeting up next.. Thursday at 10.30 am!