Andras’ personal page

It’s been less than 24 hours and I am already back here. Gillman Barracks, Singapore. Surrounded by a feeling of a time long gone, for the spirits from our past, taken over by a sense of nostalgia and the aura of contemporary creativity, I was drawn back here to write my reflections of my experience of being a first-time gallery host. There is a sense of peacefulness here, looking at old buildings, lush greenery, parakeets flying overhead, my dabao lunch sat on the park bench next time to and being joined by a construction worker having his well deserved lunch break and home cooked meal. He is a roofer and we know each other from the day before. He is nice! He just looked over and wished me bon apetit. I am smiling. He has become part of my story. Who would have thought, even a just a day earlier. 

I will now get on with my story. 

A few months ago, I saw a post on my Instagram, seeking applications for volunteer gallery hosts at an upcoming exhibition. I have become very interested and engaged in arts since ART SG in 2023. I have done a fair bit of networking since then with galleries, collectors, artists, fellow art lovers and I have also started a small collection of works that I really enjoy displaying in my home. I thought, what a great experience it would be to add gallery host to my gradually building art exposure “resume”. So I applied and lo and behold I was contacted and after some short back and forth I was given the opportunity to host the event for a day. The venue was chosen to be the artist district in Gillman Barracks and I was rostered for a full day shift on a Saturday. All this just happened yesterday and my experience was so profound that I decided to write a short reflection on it to record it for my future self and also to share it with any interested readers. 

As this story is about my reflections, I will not provide more background on the logistics and minor details of the physical experience, rather go into what I felt and how all this impacted me in some way.

The show was curated around unrefined and coarse interpretations of art through the eyes and works of 14 artists. I would say, this theme of modern, industrial abstraction is not a type of art and expression I know much about or particularly enjoy. Entering the exhibition space, an old, dark and solemn looking barrack building, in the morning at the start of my shift, I felt like this will be a long day of me being stuck with meaningless art the entire day. The early part of the day really started that way. I was more interested in chatting with my fellow gallery host, reading a book or playing a game on my phone. Of course only during times when no visitors were present. However, as they day went on, somehow something changed in me. I can’t really explain what caused this change: was it simply just being exposed to the presence of these works for an extended period; was it my observation of how visitors interacted with and viewed the works; was it simply my mind settling down from everyday thoughts and switching to “art appreciation” mode? I cannot tell. But I started feeling more and more interested in the works in front of me. I noticed how, almost subconsciously, I was compelled to stand up, walk to a piece of art, take a picture of it, marvel at it, walk around it, think about why it was what it was and why it was created this way by the artist. And this did not stop when I was “done” and went back to my duties; as they day went on, I was compelled by an invisible force to stand up again, follow the same routine as before, but also look for a new way to perceive the specific work of my attention. This went on the rest of my day, with me connecting with several of the works, within whatever time I had outside of my duties as a host. I simply cannot explain it any better, than somehow during the day I got unbreakably connected to these works and how they permeated my mind and perception about their appearance and meaning. As the clock ticked 7 pm and we had to turn off the lights and lock the studio for the day, I felt a strange but deep feeling of leaving old friends behind, whom I wish to come see again and who have irreversibly changed who I am and how I think. Could this be the true impact of art to anyone getting long enough exposure and opportunity to reflect on various works over time? 

As my worker friend close by on the bench transitions to a video call in a language I can’t understand but strangely enjoy eavesdropping on, I continue the thread of my story with what I observed and took away from watching the steady stream of visitors passing through the exhibition during the day. 

The way the space was set up seemed to indirectly suggest a direction and viewing sequence visitors could follow. Come in, turn right, follow the works along the wall, once you reach the back of the building, duck into the adjacent small room to look at the 3 works there, continue in the main room again along the wall. Once you came around in a circle go to the middle to observe the hanging art piece there which could be understood as the headliner of the exhibition. Sure enough, a good majority of people follow this flow which I also considered logical. However, to my surprise and amusement, there were just as many people who did not follow this way. There were some who simply went the other way. Turn left, than follow along in more or less reverse order to the exhibition. Reverse as defined by the mind and logic of Andras. To them, I imagine, turning right at the door would have felt less natural. Or maybe they didn’t even think about this, chose their direction spontaneously and it is only me who is making such a big deal of tall this. I shall never know but what a fun thing to ponder about! Moving on from if turning right or left is the best way to go, even more interesting to observe were the visitors who seemingly exhibited random “gallery-going” behaviors. There were folks who came in and headed straight for a particular artwork, either randomly or, in some cases, seemingly having come to the event to observe a specific work. Once they satisfied their craving to experience said artwork many chose to get on with a sequential approach to seeing the rest of the works. But there were some people who continued with randomly zig zagging to different pieces or in some cases backtracking to a previous work they already explored. Observing these physical behaviors, without the opportunity to interact with them in person to try to understand why the approached the exhibition this way, left me to contemplate such human behaviors and reasons alone, realizing that the possibilities and reasons could be endless, but very interesting and thought provoking none the less. Humans are interesting! Taking time to observe behaviors of people around us is fun! What a new way I found to explore limitless curiosity and quench my longing and thirst for more human connections. 

There is another aspect of my learnings and experience from my exposure I had to visitors, that of their verbal communications and gestures. Some came in and said hello right the way, same came in sort of lost in thought but lit up with a big smile upon being greeted with a big “Hello” at the entrance. Same went as far as shaking our hands and introducing themselves (in hindsight they may have thought we are maybe connected to the exhibition deeper than just as gallery hosts) and there were some who did not seem to notice us at all or did not acknowledge us upon entering and leaving. I do not have any significant conclusions from these experiences, I guess just like in our everyday lives, people interact with each differently. I can also imagine some people really being in the “zone” when coming to an art exhibition, focusing all of their attention on the artworks and the environment in the exhibition space. 

Other forms of verbal communication I observed was between visitors. In some cases entire families came, groups of friends came or some visitors simply came alone. It was interesting to observe groups, how some were very quiet the entire time, either not saying anything to each other, or keeping a very low tone, commensurate to the quietness and solemnity of the gallery space. Some others on the other hand talked in more regular voices, sometimes even raising their voice to call their companions who may have been in another part of the exhibition at those moments. I would say I have my preferences on how to communicate when visiting a gallery or exhibition but it is not my place to judge anyone. At the end of the day, everyone has todecide how they wish to enjoy an event and allow others to have their own best experience. The one thing I will say though is that I enjoyed the exhibition the most in moments just before opening and just after closing, when the space and moment was just ours, the two gallery hosts’.

The main piece of the exhibition, as I also mentioned earlier, was a hanging work with multiple layers and components. It was directly in front of our host station and I had ample opportunity during the day to look at it and observe it in detail. I can’t say that I developed an understanding of the seemingly random components coming together to represent a message, but what I can say is that the sheer movement of the piece induced by the air conditioner blasting air into the space and by the people passing by, the piece took on its own life. It turned ever slowly, showing us a different face and configuration that kept changing throughout the day. With the change in its position and the outside lighting conditions also changing as the day went one, the shadow play that ensued was mesmerizing to me. I really like shadows! I knew that already way before this experience, but the day convinced me that shadows add another dimension to certain types of artwork which is really special and could be perceived uniquely by each observer. The promise I made myself after admiring this piece and how it manifested itself in the space was that I will some day also want to own a hanging art installation in my home, to enjoy its many faces and many shadows from the endless perspectives I can adopt being able to move around it pretty much on all sides. 

My shift covered the entire day, morning and afternoon included. The second gallery host was a different person for both shifts. Respecting those folks’ privacy I will not introduce them in detail here, rather I will focus on my experience interacting with them for several hours that day. As art gallery hosts we were naturally connected in some way through our appreciation of art. This “common language” manifested itself quickly into interesting conversations soon after we got past the initial awkwardness of introductions and ice breakers. Be it learning about someone’s personal art portfolio, to discussing an art book and particular styles of art, leading a deep discourse about how we feel about the art pieces in the exhibit, time seemed to pass by very quickly and it was with sadness to see each other off after the shifts ended. I am a firm believer that seeking out new experiences will also expose us to meeting interesting new friends. Today was a great example of this and I got to meet some cool people I would likely never would have met without being a gallery host that day. 

Finally, I would be remiss to not mention how I felt physically at the end of the long day at the gallery. Simply put: I felt really tired! Yes, I had some time to sit around and not do much during lunch time and other less busy periods. But there have been extended periods of hosting visitors around the gallery space, either standing at a respectful distance from them or following them closely, at the ready to answer any questions they may have. My body felt very tired by the end and I was sure glad to get home, kick off my shoes and sit down on the couch to rest. My mind also felt exhausted and almost numb by the end. Shouldering the responsibility for visitors to have a great experience whilst keeping everything organized and safe is taxing. Even the stimuli of being exposed to artworks the entire day in an unusual space felt a bit overwhelming as the day drew to a close. I am not complaining! The entire experience was a lot of fun and highly educational. One can always rest at the end of the shift and be ready for another round the next day.

As I think back on the whole experience, I would definitely dothis again any time and recommend anyone else to try if you get the opportunity. I hope my reflection here provides inspiration to a entire next generation of aspiring gallery hosts and hostesses who will some day also share their experiences with all of us.