Alexa's Breakin' Rules.... in Duluth

Setting up for a show is usually kind of a cluster because you have hundreds of artists trying to get their trucks and trailers or Sprinter vans or in my case bad ass retro RVs onto often times one small street.  This happens over the course of a few hours to a day which doesn’t even compare to the often logistical nightmare of load out which is basically the same thing but pretty much everyone wants to get in to pick up all their stuff in about the same 20 minutes.  Ever been to an art show and someone imagined that artists just show up and magically their stuff is all there then they sell and go home? Well that’s not how it happens.

Anyways, my show last weekend in Duluth Minnesota was in a park with a one lane street making a big loop with one entrance then a courtyard on the far end which was about 3-4 lanes of traffic wide which was the artist vehicle exit and right where my booth was. I was literally the second booth in from the exit and after packing up I was going to go get my RV so I could pack up and be on my way.  A few artists who were also in the courtyard but a bit farther back had already gotten their vehicles and driven through the exit because it was about a hundred times faster and easier and they weren’t inconveniencing anyone.  The whole goal of load-out, I believe and correct me if I’m wrong, is to get everyone out as quickly as possible.  So I’m thinking, “hey, the only thing that makes sense here is for me to drive in through the exit like the other 5 or so cars did and park my RV by my pile of stuff completely out of everybody else’s way so I can load up as quickly as possible and be one less person in the middle of all of this.  But of course in between these first 5 doing what made perfect sense and the ten more minutes it took me to pack up and attempt to go get my vehicle the show promoter Deb had decided that she was going to institute a “no entering through the exit policy” so that I would have to drive my big ass rig down the one lane street through the hundreds of booths where vehicles were backed up and prohibited from pulling off into the grass because it could break sprinkler heads.  I decided that was ludicrous and also because it had started to drizzle on all of my art and my other stuff and told her that I simply wasn’t going to adhere to that insane rule and that I would be in everyone’s way if I did what she was asking and I could be in no one’s way if I came in through the exit (which is basically where my vehicle was parked anyways) and get my stuff out quicker.  She told me not to and that she can’t bend the rules for me blah blah blah. I just agreed with her logic and told her I was going to do it anyways, but I should have gotten into a discussion of why you should institute a rule that makes no sense and that is only making everything harder for everyone and basically goes completely against the whole purpose which is to get everyone out as quickly as possible. 
So I did it anyways. 
She had since the first 5 people, sent a volunteer booth sitter who I’d talked to throughout the show and is a total sweet heart named Jess, down to the exit to block cars from getting in.  I lied to her and told her Deb said it was okay and then went and got my RV and went straight to my spot. It took about 2 minutes for me to back into where I needed to be to be completely out of exiting vehicles way.
Of course Deb came right over and was clearly more upset that I just hadn’t listened because I think if she’d employed any logic she would have realized there was no reason that I should have done anything but what I had done.

She told me how disappointed she was and blah blah blah and I just agreed saying “I know, I’m the worst” but assured her that I had lied to Jess and told it was okay and not to blame her because it was in no way her fault.  And after I packed up my stuff and loaded up as I was exiting, Jess told me that Deb called and yelled at her. So now I feel bad and kind of annoyed because I had explicitly told Deb that Jess had asked me not to, begged even, because she didn’t want to get yelled at and yet she still called her and yelled at her. Yell at me! I’m the one who did it.  I weighed my options, and I could either do what Deb said even though I didn’t agree with it and potentially allow my art to get damaged in the rain while I’m waiting in a line of dozens of other cars to pack their shit up and Deb, someone who I don’t know gets mad at me, then I have to deal with my potentially damaged artwork and an RV full of wet mold- culturing shit. OR I could do what is best for me, (not at the expense of any other artists or their work because I didn’t make it harder for anyone else to get their stuff out of the rain), and piss someone off who I’m never going to see again.

So ya, Alexa’s Makin’ Waves and Breakin’ Rules. :)