Today is a holiday in New Zealand. It is Waitangi Day. On this day in 1840 some (but not all) Maori chiefs signed a treaty at James Busby’s house in Waitangi. The document put the inhabitants of this country under English protection. Unfortunately the translation into Maori sounded somewhat different from the English version. And of course it is wide open to interpretation.
I am relatively relaxed today and finally summoned all my courage to tell the Dedes that I will have a Solo Exhibition at the end of June for two weeks. I haven’t signed the contract yet, but it is pretty much teed up. So, why did it take me so long to tell them?
When I first started to discuss the exhibition with the gallery back in November, the curator suggested I should sell the puppets at the show. But I am very hesitant, after all they are the protagonists of my books and my blog. I can’t just sell them off. But of course, the gallery needs to earn some money. So I will have to have something to sell. Fortunately I still have four month to think about it. It could be large photographic prints (but would someone be interested in buying them?) or some specially made puppets that don’t appear on the blog (How much use is a single puppet?). Questions and more questions and I don’t know the answers yet. I had to promise the Dedes though, that all the existing puppets are safe. Don’t tell them, but I crossed my fingers behind my back, when I promised. I admit, it’s not a very nice thing to do, but who knows what happens in four month. Never say never!
The Dedes seemed to have mellowed a bit since I last broached the issue of sales back in November. Then I had a riot on my hands and it took nearly a week to calm them down. Today, they just said it was wonderful news and they are looking forward to having a gig in the real world. Then they went off and continued doing their own thing. It makes me wonder if some of them aren’t ready to emigrate. Maybe Bobby is looking for a new job, or Cash Cow wants to move out of the garage. Who knows!
After my announcement, I made myself a cup of tea and sat on the deck for a while. I watched Sunny scavenging through the builders rubble and putting stuff to one side in a little pile. Sunny is a wannabe artist and he even imitated L’Artiste’s dress today. Personally, I don’t think I have ever seen him do any work. Though he is very good at talking about what he is going to do one day, when he has found a patron. So, I was more than surprised, seeing him dragging bits and pieces onto the deck.
“What are you doing there?” I asked as the stash grew.
“An artwork of course, I thought, now that you have organised a gallery space, I might be able to slip one or two of my artworks in. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”
“I can’t promise right now, I have to see them first.”
“I have this brilliant idea and you have to brace yourself… You will be blown away, just wait!”
First I have to see if he actually finishes something by the end of June.
dedepuppets 
Hard decisions …
Yep. I might change my mind a few times before I finally commit :)
How long does creating a new puppet take?
It takes roughly 3 days. But there is a long drying time between the steps, so I usually work on several at a time. I don’t want to double up on characters, though. So I have to wait until enough characters have settled in my mind before I sit down and physically create them.
Congrats on your exhibition later in the year. I could see where parting with your original Dedes would be hard. Some photography could be interesting. While I was reading your post…my memory flashed on to some interesting pieces that Max Ernst made with help from his fellow artists. The artworks were portable theaters that had scrolling elements and allowed for multiple interactions and interpretations. This is one aspect of your project that I like…I can project my own interpretation of what the Dedes are thinking and doing. It would be nice if you could preserve that more interactive element of your work in a gallery setting. You are very creative and will figure something out!
Thanks for the Max Ernst hint. I will research this one. You are right, the interactive component is very important and so is the space for one’s own interpretation. I already picked up up one of your earlier comments: the large photographic prints. Larger than life. The puppets are only 12 to 18 cm in height. Imagine having an images printed on A1 taken with the Macro lens next to them. The question is, would visitors be interested in buying such prints. The gallery understandably wants some sales :).