It's Been a Long Time!

Charlie C-T again, As the title obviously says, it's been a long time since the blog has been updated. I will cover what has been going on for YAAC since we were working on the shop. Get ready for a long one!

First things first: YAAC / Pop Up Shop


I think it's important to say that the ultimate theme of the shop was the idea of light and how it travels through and around objects. We came to choose this as the subject matter as a response to the shop space, with the big window and the large amount of reflective surfaces in the shop.


We has a really great preview night when we the shop finally opened to the public and a great deal of positive feedback! The main thing that I heard throughout the weekend was, "Your only 17? I though you would be at least university students!". Hearing what everyone thought about the opening and the weekend as a whole really gave us a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

When we opened fully on Saturday and Sunday, and even though not as many people came as expected we still  had a great time and everyone that came down was enjoying what we had done!

In The front we had a hospitality area with free cake and tea! Here is where we spent most of our time, eating cakes and drinking tea. Above the tea and cakes we had a string pattern suspended from wall to wall which held photos (which i'll get to later), flyers, stickers and such. You can see this in the photo on the left.

The middle area hosted a wooden triangular prism with a scientific diagram laser cut out of it. Sadly the effect which we wished to get from this didn't quite go to plan. We placed 2 lamps inside it and wanted the lamps to project the diagram across the room, but we couldn't get the room dark enough and the bulbs bright enough. Instead the prism acted as a lantern. Surrounding the prism we had 3 wooden screens that it was meant to project onto, but instead we drew on them images which we though represented the prism (which you can see above).

In the photo (on the right) you can see black lines across the floor, this is also meant to represent the prism and draws attention towards the central area and then back further into the shop.

On the wall next to the prism we printed images from the planning for the shop. We felt these images really captured the more scientific element of our exhibition.

In the back room we had a UV installation that consisted of string sprayed in UV paint and then strung across the room to make a scientific diagram. The mirror behind the installation brought the image an extra depth. Painting the supporting stings black created the illusion that the sting was floating. This is personally my favorite part of the shop!

All in all, we all enjoyed this project, and it seemed so did everyone else that came!


After Came: Our Trip To IYP

Previously on the blog we said that IYP, IKON Youth Project, came to Bristol to see the sights and meet YAAC. We thought it about time to repay the favor, especially as it was the launch of their new exciting project, Slow Boat, which i'll talk about soon.

We took the train to Birmingham in the morning, moans about the early start and how tired we were was the main discussion point of the ride. Soon we got to Birmingham to be greeted by rain, typical England, but soldiered on through to the IKON gallery. There we met IYP, left our bags and followed a brass band down to the boat. Yes, a Brass Band!

After a speech and a song from IYP we boarded for her maiden voyage. We sailed slowly trough the canals of Birmingham and the sun came out. It was lovely and i immensely enjoyed myself, even if there was a camera man asking me questions ever other minute!

The whole idea about the canal boat that IYP has is that it is a blank canvass for them to experiment with. They can use it as an arts space, be it for exhibitions or work, but it seems really cool, and YAAC are jealous!














I'm sure there is something i have forgotten, If so, I will update.

Thanks,
 Charlie C-T