The Lost Boys Street Gallery is a side-project that has taken up way more time than I expected. It came into being for two reasons. First, a ‘real’ gallery has never been a financial option. Second, I was getting burnt out by the work. I had been languishing in these photos for so long, sequencing, editing, then re-sequencing, that I lost sight of the story I was trying to tell. I needed to stop running in the wheel of incessant editing. I decided to curate my own gallery in an attempt to shift the way I was framing the project, and force myself to put it out into the world for judgment. I decided to put it on Church Street where the majority of the photographs were taken. The idea was to bring the work to the audience, and not the other way around. I had the advantage of having a ton of photos to work with, so I knew I wouldn’t be short on material.
In the end, I decided on a little blurb as an intro, and then a group of five photos in a filmstrip-type template. I wanted to do a few of these and allow viewers to easily differentiate between them, so each gallery is prominently gradations of one colour. I put a small hashtag on the end of it so that anyone who really looked could search for it and find their way to these write ups. Hell, they might even contribute their own thoughts and experiences to the work. The Lost Boys Red Street Gallery (capped the words, because it should be pretentious like a gallery setting – please try to show some respect and wear your Sunday best when you go see it) went up on Friday night. It was a serious rush... like stealing a candy bar from the corner store or smashing a bottle in the back alley as a kid.
The whole street-art process has been an on-the-go lesson. Learning about wheatpasting, brushes, paperweight, and colour laser-printing prices ($7.50/square foot or just tile your work into 11x17s at 1.50 a sheet – that was cheaper by, I’m not fucking kidding, $285.) Another lesson learned was to check the following day’s weather, because, rain. Live and learn. So far, this whole street gallery idea has served its purpose and rekindled my enthusiasm for the project. It's also been a great way to show this project specifically. I can put it up in the community that it was shot in, and have the audience be passersby. People may recognize themselves, literally and figuratively, or maybe where it was shot. Because of that, it has the potential to give a jolt to people that walk by, to give a different experience than that of a planned gallery trip. I like that it’s outside, and can make people stop and pause. It can be a surprise. I love the idea of having total control over what I put up; everything is on my own terms from computer screen to wall. This is not say I haven't had a ton of help... those folks know who they are.
Click on the photo below to have a look at process of making the Red Gallery. My twitter (@alexramadan) and instagram (@alexramadan) has all the updates as well.
Next gallery is going up this week - keep a lookout for it.
-asr
