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project description
artist statement
specifications
prices
launch exhibition

description

Christine developed this project with the help of Tim Mosely in 2009. She found that many of her friends were collecting more than one etching from the other people's treasures series especially, but that after a while the framing and display became an issue, especially if they had been collecting for some time. Christine and Tim designed a museum standard, archivally sound box so that work needn't be framed, at least not immediately, that was an elegant storage solution. They formalised the matt size and built in some strategies to add or maintain the value of the artwork. The project was launched at Barratt Galleries in March 2010.

The narrative project is a collection strategy in four parts:

• a bespoke museum box, designed to both complement the images and archivally store the artwork to museum standards

• a collection of uniformly matted artworks that fit neatly into the box

• documentation strategies to maintain and contribute to the market value of the collection

• access to the complete range of Christine's etchings through gallery and internet exposure - prints currently in edition and those yet to be created.

artist statement

This is a project that questions the hierarchical position of the artist as the most important curator of his or her work. It acknowledges the significance, indeed imperative, of the dialogue between the artwork and its audience: inviting collectors to impose their own narrative on this already narrated work.
 

The project is based on the assumption that individuals who buy artwork for domestic use may not necessarily consider themselves as collectors per sé: that they will collect from many sources according to their own, often unacknowledged, collection strategies such as “I don’t know much about art but …”. More than likely the collector will sort and display the artwork in an apparently random manner rather than chronologically or as the artist may have intended. In private domestic collections, the circumstances of the artworks' acquisition create another layer of meaning and value beyond the actual or intended value of the piece. This link between artwork and collector could easily be considered as significant as the connection between the artwork and its creator.

The narrative project sets out to encourage individual buyers of individual pieces of art to explore the idea of a collection all the while acknowledging them as collectors already, even if he or she only has a few original artworks or reproductions in his or her collection.

Christine writes:  As an artist, my stories are embedded in the images, as well as in the way they are displayed in a gallery situation. Laid end to end, my paintings and etchings tell the story of my life. Take my images, juxtapose them and share with me the story of yours.
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SPECIFICATIONS
the folio box  

           375 x 310 x 65 mm
           clamshell construction covered in navy buckram
           gold embossed on the spine: narrative Christine Porter
           debossed on the front with the artist's name
           each box individually numbered 

the matts

          370 x 300 mm
          cotton rag museum matt-board with 5 mm cotton rag covered backing board
          matt and backing hinged with gummed linen hinging tape
          artwork hinged with gummed Japanese hinging paper
          the matted artwork is ready to frame if the collector chooses
          2010 value of each matt, backing and fitting, without the artwork: approx $40

each folio box contains

         up to 7 archivally matted prints (of the collector's choice)
         a pair of cotton gloves
         a folder containing information about each etching in that particular box, with email updates as the work appreciates

prices  

The prices are based on which selection you choose:

• the folio box without any prints (an archivally-sound storage box for any works on paper)
• the folio box with two matted prints (the beginning of a collection)
• the folio box with any seven prints chosen from across the current range available or in anticipation of future prints (a small collection that tells your story too)
  

Contact us   for availability, strategies, timelines or to discuss how the narrative project can fit into your life.

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launch exhibition: Barratt Galleries March - April 2010

For more information about this exhibition, installation shots, artist statements, reviews etc go to narrative - Barratt Galleries

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