So here're some images from my dining room table, illustrating the wrong way to treat a work of art. I was all excited to get into Fiber Directions, finally, because throughout my career it's been a show that really seemed to be a benchmark for the serious fiber professional. This year's award winner, in fact, is someone who's work I show to my students, knitting Adrian Sloane. (This work also shows up in any of my knitting activism talks. So kudos to A. Sloane!)
The piece I had in the show (basket called Elk Cove) apparently made it there okay, and shows up in one installation shot on the Wichita Center for Art website. It doesn't look like the piece suffered any hardships in getting to Wichita. That show closed on the 16th of May, and all work was to be mailed back by the 29th. I got the box containing Elk Cove back on June 6. For two weeks I'd been saying to Man, "Hey, I wonder where my work is. That show in Wichita closed on the 16th." Then one day Man came in from the outdoors and said, "Weren't you waiting for a package? There's a really smashed box on the porch addressed to you." I, of course, thought that he was joking - this is the kind of joke he pulls on me frequently. But, he didn't have that weird little look on his face that tips me off to his deceptions...and there was, in fact, a totally smashed box on the porch with my name on it. It contained totally smashed artwork, underneath a wrinkled copy of the catalogue, with my packing materials ON TOP of the basket, not around the piece as they'd been when it was sent. Clearly, they have monkeys working in the back room in Wichita. And they assume no liability, naturally.
Let us contrast then, the work that was returned to me from the Luke and Eloy Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA. The director, Brigitte Martin, contacted me to confirm the address, and noted that it would be sent with signature confirmation, due to arrive on a specific date. The package arrived a couple days early, and in perfect condition. And she invited me to post work on their website. Pittsburgh: the city that gave me two of my favorite professors from Art school, also gives me my new favorite place to show.
