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Why do we go to private views? We go because we are invited, because we are on a galleries mailout list, because we are part of a scene, we are members of a gallery going crowd. We go because it's of use to us to go and to be defined in part by our presence at certain shows, and to build an identity in part through association. Sometimes we are interested in the work and become frustrated by our inability to actually see it over other peoples shoulders, the private view is possibly the worst time to try to see the work.
Artists use private views to present themselves, to get into proximity with other arts professionals, with gallery directors, curators, education officers, arts officers, buyers and other artists they wish to network with in order to progress their careers. The private view in this sense represents an uneasy no - mans land situated between work and leisure between the professional and the personal. It is a space of expectation and alienation that is at once open and closed a dichotomy refelected in its name 'Private' meaning by invitation only and 'view' implying visibility, an open communication, its name also infers a shared intimacy. The traditional private view functions to re - affirm the status quo, to re - affirm the established power relations between galleries, artists and the public and to place the consumption of art within a decidedly middle class context. As such it offers the perfect frame for an intervention that highlights its significance, through the use of photography, as primarily a space for the construction of social relations.
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