How do I display work in the exhibition?

I'm trying to think up some ideas for displaying the work in the PGL Exhibition. 

Originally, I thought I would do it in a very DIY, low cost way (think bunting style). Either suspending string along the walls, one at the top and one in the middle, in a wave fashion.

Or suspending the string completely across the ceiling.

I think this is a decision best made once I have a better idea of the amount of submissions. I reckon (and have been told by Janice who runs PG Manchester that most submissions come on the last week of the deadline and even afterwards - and I have 8 days between my submission deadline and the opening night - phew!). It may well be that I need to do both ideas if there are a lot of submissions.

The good points of this method are that once the string is up, the work can be moved around during the curation period if something doesn't sit well with another piece of work. Wooden clothes pegs are cheap and can be painted or modified or small bulldog clips can be used. 

Also, if the work is suspended across the ceiling, if there are many people in the room, all the work should still be visible to everyone and with The Marvellous Tea Dance Company being in the space too, it would make a lovely setting for a little sit down with tea and a cake under all the artwork.

I'm trying to make the exhibition as informal as possible, without it looking too shabby. There will definitely be no plinths or frames - mainly because this create a whole load of extra work, begging and borrowing which means travelling and loading/unloading. It also adds extra cost and will take longer to set up and take down.

I personally am not a lover of "the frame" in the context of an exhibition. Why should art be kept under a glass sheet? We are not trying to preserve the art, the art is for now. It's impulsive and unique. Art under glass connotes being protected - but protected from what? The word curate means to guard, to look after - but to guard from what? What are we so afraid of?

I hope that this vision is shared by the critics. I would hate to get sloppy reviews, saying that the submissions were awesome, the concept of the project was awesome but the curatorship was sloppy and not thought about. I think that we need a shake up in the way we view art. If I get people talking, that's good. I would like some critical debate.

Hype Beast.com........

I really like this idea of the space becoming part of the event. Making the walls of this exhibition look like a donut topping to match the wares being sold (for charity!) is a brilliant idea. Not something that I could copy exactly - decoration-wise but the concept of the space itself, the walls etc, being part of the experience.

When people come to PGL exhibition, I want them to have an experience. I was them to feel comfortable and happy.

Over the holiday weekend, Pres Rodriguez curated a one-of-a-kind charity bake sale art exhibition in Miami. The show featured over 20 of Miami’s top artists including: Jim Drain, Michael Genovese, Jason Hedges, Nick D. Lobo, Justin Long, Hugo Montoya, Jonathan Thomas and Kyle Trowbridge amongst others. The show was a success beyond anyone’s expectations, raising over $10,000 for charity and providing the feel-good moment of the year for Miami, amidst this crazy recession. Its main room was transformed into a giant Krispy Kreme donut with over 1,000 sprinkles on the pink “frosting” walls. Bert Rodriguez, a Miami based 2008 Whitney Biennial artist, alongside Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova contributed a double toilet seat server which had people eating chocolate pudding and rice pudding out of the bowls. With over 2,000 people coming through, it might have been the party of the year. Further information and images regarding the event can be found at Oh-wow.com.