Speaking with Mairi MacKenzie

Mairi MacKenzie is a fashion historian and curator based in Glasgow, after attending her lecture as part of the transdisciplinary module I resonated with her exhibiton Dressing Above Your Statio that was online and decide to get in contact to speak further about their pratice. Although the exhibtion was fully virtual, being able to access the exhibtion through a laptop during covid, the exhibtion remained connect to a physical space of the Tramway in Glasgow. The online exhibtion space was 3D scan of Tramway and meant that viewers of the exhibtion would be able to move through the digital version of Tramway as they would if they were physically there.

This connection to the physical space was signifcant in creating the exhibtion for Mairi, creating an exhibtion in a signifcant contemporary art space in Glasgow meant that many already had a connection to the physical space with this being one of the main reasons that many sought out the exhibtion. In replicating a space that was already well known within Glasgow and the connection that the art works had to Glasgow, with the works that were on display being the considering the life of scottish painter born in Glasgow Steven Campbell, meant that many who attended the exhibition were from Glasgow. This highlights that although in theory with the exhibition being online it will attract an audience from all over the globe the physical space that is use will continue to be of signifcant importance.

In creating the exhibtion ISO design made the exhition space and scanned the object that would then fill the space. With ISO design being a software and digital media studio that create large scale interactive and immersive media projects. In speaking with Mairi and working on a smaller scale she recomended to explore the movements that the Unreal Engine have made in to the cultural sector with them creating exhibtions as well as the movement that many cultural insitutions have made towards gamification. As well as ensuring that the technology does not get in the way of curating, creating an exhibtion that is user friendly.

In speaking with Mairi about there exhibtion at Tramway in Glasgow as well as the plans that they have in taking the exhibiton to New York a connection to the physicality of the space is significant when creating an exhibition. When creating an exhitbition even if that is online you cannot divorce it from the space. In taking this perspective and applying this to my own developing project I think that in connection the exhitbiton to Liverpool will be a avenue of my research, creating a trail like exhibtion to that of the Liverpool River of Light and incorporating artist that have been signifcant within Liverpool. Audiences connection to physical space can impact their reasons for attending as well as impact the connections they feel to the artworks on display.