making mountains from molehills results in both peaks and valleys
Clover Archer  making mountains from molehills results in both peaks and valleys

For the 21ST.PROJECTS Viewing, I presented a wall drawing consisting of layers of informal sketches that are the byproduct of five years of installing exhibitions in the capacity as director of a small academic gallery (Staniar Gallery, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA). In order to determine how the art for each exhibition will physically fit in the gallery space, I block out the distribution of works along the gallery walls in quick sketches on small sheets of paper. The resulting rough diagrams offer no indication of the content of the exhibition artworks; they are not drawn to scale, and they are marked with numbers and figuring, the remnants of calculations of reworking spacing decisions. These sketches and notes chart the inner workings of routine and function, generating an instrumental map that no longer serves a purpose after the public presentation of the ends for which it was produced--the exhibition of the artworks themselves. Yet, their form is not entirely reducible to formality. Each figure retains a trace of the unique apportion of space for a particular show, manifesting the often invisible layers of labor, time, and thought that make the gallery experience possible. Taken together, and absent the artworks that was the impetus for their initial production, the residual matter of installing art is made available for resignification by my own artistic practice.

Clover Archer  making mountains from molehills results in both peaks and valleys graphite on wall surface
mountain - molehill
detail
graphite on wall surface
approximately 4 x 6 feet
Clover Archer  making mountains from molehills results in both peaks and valleys 8.5 x 11 in
Staniar Gallery wall map sketch
graphite on paper
8.5 x 11 in
Clover Archer  making mountains from molehills results in both peaks and valleys 5 x 7 in
Staniar Gallery wall map sketch
graphite on paper
5 x 7 in
Clover Archer  making mountains from molehills results in both peaks and valleys 4.25 x 6 in
Staniar Gallery wall map sketch
graphite on paper
4.25 x 6 in
Clover Archer  making mountains from molehills results in both peaks and valleys graphite on wall surface
mountain - molehill
detail
graphite on wall surface
approximately 4 x 6 feet