a somewhat gernatic reflection of what i've learned

August 25th, 2010 I began this internship at the RoCo. Today was the final day of that year long (technically 11 month) experience. I'll definitely be back for exhibitions and would even like to help install some of the bigger shows in the future. But I wanted to take some time reflect on and compile my impressions of this experience, what I felt I learned, and what I would like to learn more of in the future.

Two of the other interns working today mentioned that they had been counting their hours since they started working, and consequently suffering from momentary depression when considering the lack of reimbursement. So before I go eat a delicious meal at Tap and Mallet and get smashed with Ben, I'll going to take some time to add of all of the hours (according to my personal calender) that I have worked at RoCo.

(I feel The Ugly Organ by Cursive is necessary for this task, just for the sake of hearing 'Art is Hard'.)

This is already getting sad. I'm only on the week of Sept. 13th, 2010 and I worked at RoCo for 27 hours that week.

Week of Nov. 29th (Member's Exhibition): 38 hours.

Week of May 30th (6x6): 34.5 hours

TOTAL: 818 hours

I'm feeling a little too involved with the number to focus all the things I wanted to reflect upon. Okay....focus on...

What I learned: This list will represent a range of actual, tangible skills as well as things I learned I truly enjoyed and things that learned I don't want to do

Computer programs:

• Filemaker Pro: very unintuitive database program. Useful for documenting people's personal information and printing things like letters and mailing labels in mass. Great thing to put on my resume.
• InDesign: A crash reminder of how to use the program (from the last time I used it in high school) to learning all sorts of new tricks. Due to my prior knowledge of Photoshop, I was able to build a more cohesive language of InDesign with each use. (Also, fuck Microsoft Word and all of its clunky bullshit. I don't even us it, I use Pages. In fact, I don't even use that...TextEdit or InDesign)
• Dreamweaver: Working knowledge and ability to stumble around the program as long as the files have been previously constructed. I, by no means, can write code. I can understand enough to ask where the bathroom is,
• JAlbum: Some shitty, free program that can be downloaded from the internet. Vaguely useful for creating photo albums that can them be imported into Dreamweaver.

*I'd also like to thank all of my friends who are knowledgeable to computers (mostly Ben, James and Conor) for influencing me to not be completely paralyzed with terror whenever a computer does something mildly unexpected. At this job, I proved I could solve problems using Google and fucking around until the ones and zeros threw me bone. Thanks guys.

There will be a break the completion of this post, as Ben and I are about to go enjoy an awesome beer dinner. I may finish this later tonight when I'm drunk or tomorrow. But coming up next on 'Things Allie Learned from Her Unpaid Internship": Installation!

It's the next day, real glad I didn't try to do this drunk...continuing on...

Installation: The physicality and visual problem solving involved in this process quickly became any favorite thing to do at RoCo. If I could get a job doing this (and primarily only this) in the gallery world, that would great. I think I'll break this section down by exhibition since each one presented new experiences and problems.

• Geometries: This was the first exhibition that was a part of installing at RoCo. I remember being a little disappointed to not have gotten to see it all the way through but I more than made up for that with other shows. Painting walls, something I already had plenty of experience with but sure did gain a new appreciation for the value of primer. I actually did a fair amount of the lighting for this show; I didn't really enjoying being on that tall ladder moving hot lights around at the time, but I never got that chance to do lighting for any other exhibition and wish I had gotten some more experience in it. And I learned the appropriate eye level height to hang artwork.
• Members' Exhibition: The giant puzzle. 300+ artworks of varying sizes, shapes, and media. I was not there for the layout period but got the opportunity to do A LOT of the hanging. Considering that the work came from a variety of people within the Rochester art community, it seemed each person came up with new, exciting (difficult, impossible) hardware for hanging their work. Or none at all. This was also a show that required a lot of math and a fair amount of physical endurance. Also was able to help solve some exhibition design issues, which were challenging but interesting and rewarding.
  
• Makers and Mentors: This show was mostly designed by the artists and the director. But I sure did lift a tons of heavy sculpture. And paint some more.
• Contemporary Fiber Exhibtion: This was a juried exhibition. There was a lot of different work in this show and was very interesting to install. The amount of work (/the size) was somewhat sparse, so it became important to try to arrange everything in a logical, efficient way. I felt I was able to take a greater role in the exhibition design for this one, which was great. Hanging some of the work was a little nerve wracking, as it was mostly very delicate and could get dirty easily (especially compared to that last exhibition of huge, sturdy sculpture).
  
• 6x6x2011: Last but in no way least. In fact, probably most. 4413 artworks, 6"x6" in dimension. Not only was receiving, processing, organizing, and documenting the work tedious but the installation required a lot of physical and mental endurance. Exhibition design was not really in a issue here since work was simply organized and hung in the order it arrived. And templates from previous years were used to mark out the walls. This stop motion video from last year's 6x6 should give you a pretty good indication of how it worked, but it really is difficult to express the enormity of the project if you haven't experienced it.
  

Design: Both graphic and exhibition. I already talked a bit about exhibition design in the installation portion so I guess I'll touch on the graphic. I don't have any examples to show off, since most of the things were print based and therefore not on the website. I did get a design plenty of little signs that we used throughout the gallery and also played (what I think) was a big role in designing the graphic RoCo is going to use for the flutter flag they'll be getting soon. The design was pretty simple: taking the backward RoCo 'R' and incorporating it into the word 'ART', written vertically. Like I said, very basic, but effective.

There was, undoubtedly, some more little things I learned through this experience, but those are probably the most notable (and most marketable) things.

I also had a balance scheduling interns and volunteers.
Writing and editing instructions for various processes (such as using JAlbum and making a photo album for the website).

And there were certainly a few things I did not enjoy doing: most of those things stemmed from my decreasing patience for mankind. But that's a personal issue and a problem that is present in daily life.

And there are some things I got do more of or learn more about: such as learning about the process involved in curating exhibitions, working more closely with artists, (maybe) event planning, more exhibition planning, etc.

All and all, it was a very useful experience, a great thing to put on my resume, and as earned me a good reference. As I look at future jobs (both in the arts and maybe not necessarily in the arts), I have a better understand of what to look for and what the right questions to ask are.

So, on to the next thing.