I did The Other Art Fair a while back with a few of the boards. Its one of those places where emerging artists in London actually end up talking to gallerists instead of just hoping someone sees the work online. Not the only place, but a practical one.

The setup is straightforward. You get a wall, you hang the pieces, people walk past. Most of them are collectors or just browsing. Every so often someone who runs a gallery or works with one stops. With the boards they usually did a double take once they got close enough to see the cards were real. Then the questions started. Same ones I get in the studio. Is that the actual shuffle order? Do you make prints? Can I see how its put together?

I had the phone videos on hand so I could show the shuffle if they asked. Most didn’t need the full thing. They just wanted to know I hadn’t rearranged the cards afterwards to make it look better. Fair lighting is harsh and the boards are big, so any wonky edge or thicker card shows up. I didn’t try to hide that. A couple of people seemed to like it more because of it.

Outside the fair the other ways it happens are pretty ordinary. Someone messages after seeing a post. Or they come to one of the short open afternoons in West London. Or a gallerist mentions they are looking and asks if they can visit. There isn’t a clever route. The fair just puts more of those conversations in one weekend.

I didn’t come away with a gallery from it. A few useful talks, some people who later came to the studio to see the work properly. Thats been the pattern so far. The boards either make sense to someone when they are standing in front of them or they don’t. The fair just gives more people the chance to stand there. Back in the studio its the same slow process as always. Shuffle, film, glue the cards down one by one. The conversations happen when they happen.