Showing work before it is finished

Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.

Before our basket-making studio opened to visitors, I removed the half-finished basket from my table. Its loose lengths of willow and uneven edge seemed likely to suggest careless work. The organiser argued that a room containing only polished objects would conceal the decisions involved in making them.

I agreed to display the basket on two conditions. A label would identify the stage it had reached and explain which parts still needed shaping, and a completed basket would stand beside it. Visitors could then compare the two without assuming that I considered the unfinished one ready for sale. I displayed one work in progress rather than every abandoned attempt, because I wanted the example to clarify the process rather than create confusion.

Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.

A volunteer survey team prepared a small exhibition about recording life in rock pools. At first, we selected only the final tables in which every entry had been checked. One member suggested including a field sheet containing several uncertain identifications and blank spaces. She said that the neat final tables made the survey appear to have produced immediate answers.

We chose one incomplete sheet and marked it clearly as an early record. A note explained why some observations required checking, and the verified table was placed next to it. We did not display all our rough pages, but the selected example allowed visitors to see how an uncertain first record could become a completed account without presenting guesses as confirmed findings.

Both texts describe decisions about displaying unfinished work.