Stephen Willats with curator Michele Drascek

One thing that has been confirmed by going through Stephen Willats’ West London  Social Resource Project materials is that, whether its 1972 or 2011, Stephen always has an eye for cool luggage. We are wondering whether the striped bag in the black and white photograph from 1972 was as bright as his latest one.

an image of Stephen Willats in 1972 from the editioned boxed set of examples from the WEST LONDON SOCIAL RESOURCE PROJECT

The resource materials from the project have been a revelation to work with but it would be fair to say that there is a lot of it and to install so many individual parts was daunting. Most of the materials are also individually hand cut and uneven and so making a grid like installation was never going to be easy! Assistant curators, Michele Drascek and Barbara Elting took on the hardest task of sorting the individual participant responses to Stephen Willats’ two questionnaire handbooks -  the West London Manual and the West London Re-Modelling book, and the results are superb.

Michele Drascek and Barbara Elting installing participant responses from the West London Social Resource Project

Next, Ian Harris from Eyeball Enterprises came to install the vinyl texts for the Public Monitor and also the new vinyl transparencies made from photographs from the West London Wastelands series. In the original Public Monitor, the West London Wastelands images were wrapped around the outside of the Monitor ‘room’. Because Stephen Willats and Donald Smith agreed not to build a ‘room within a room’ but to work with CHELSEA space’s unique architecture, the solution was to make new transaprent vinyl prints from some of the  images and to install them directly on the plate glass. The original concept of the West London Wastelands lining the outside of the Public Monitor  is maintained whilst CHELSEA space’s architecural character is also integral to this new installation.

Ian Harris installing new transparent vinly prints from the West London Wastelands series

West London Wastelands

Ian Harris has worked with CHELSEA space on our vinyls since 2006 and a particularly exciting and memorable moment for us was the installation of Lawrence Weiner’s window text made especially for CHELSEA space for the exhibition Turtle: An Anarchic Salon by Micheal H Shamberg

Lawrence Weiner 'Straight Is The Gate & Water Finds Its Own Level'. CHELSEA space 2006

Stephen Willats discusses final details with Donald Smith and Michele Drascek

Stephen  Willats came in to check on progress and arrange final details. Everything was pretty much finalised, which was just as well because no sooner had Stephen left we had a welcome but unexpected visit from Laure Genillard, Hana Noorali, and Lynton Talbot. Laure will be including Stephen Willats in the CHELSEA space exhibition following the West London Social Resource Project in a show which also includes David Tremlett, Maurizio Cattelan, and Dean Hughes amongst others. Hana Noorali meanwhile will be working with Stephen Willats on his forthcoming show at MOT International.

Laure Genillard and Hana Noorali check out the West London Social Resource Project