I’ve been using Abstracta for nearly 8 years now, and yes, it is a
royal pain, but I too can’t find anything I like better. One plus
is that it is easily customized and can be made ‘invisible’ whereas
other systems I looked at were visually intrusive and took away
from the handmade-ness of my work.
“Back when” I was living in Newfoundland (easternmost point in
North America) and doing shows in Toronto (central) and Vancouver
(west coast.), I flew my entire setup for a 10x10ft booth with me,
sometimes as excess baggage, sometimes air freight. I used plexi
rather than glass for tops – not as nice, had to be replaced
(recycled) often, but lighter. To fill in the bottom spaces I
glued fabric to cardboard panels – lightweight, sleek, eliminated
the need to press wrinkles out of a fabric skirt.
I also used fabric-covered double-thick corrugated cardboard for
shelves. To eliminate sagging in the middle I sewed velcro to the
ends of wide black ribbon strips and stretched one each way across
the gap and around the rods, under the shelves. Virtually
invisible.
Biggest drawback: The system is not intended for repeated
dismantling. Since the connectors and rods are a pressure-fit, even
with TLC they quickly get loose and the units become unstable. My
solutions have been to wrap teflon pipe tape on the pesky spots
when setting up, and/or use a ‘shelf clip’ as a corner brace. The
velcro straps also help.
I’m now using the rig in my gallery and continue to get #@$%!!??
at it frequently. Build a better display system and I will come!
Oh yes, old (1950’s) Samsonite suitcases double nicely for both
shipping and for display props.
Colleen (in dreary, snowy, youcan’tconvinceme
thisisthefirstdayofspring New Brunswick)