I just picked up on this...

I still don't like sheetrock / wallboard / what-ever-you-want-to-call-it
for gallery walls.  The stuff is too soft and easy to damage/hard to fix.
I prefer straight plywood or MDO (medium density overlay) board for all
exterior and movable walls or partitions.  It's harder, and you can do more
major repairs with filler & wood glue, etc.

Years ago I developed a system of modular plywood panels for partitioning the
gallery I was responsible for designing & installing in.  The panels were
4x12' 3/8" plywood with a framework of 1x4" clear pine on the back: 2 vertical
straps set in 1/16" from the edge, and 4 horizontal straps, bottom, top, & at
4' intervals between.   The 1x4's were assembled like a shadow box, the
plywood projected just a mite beyond this frame.  The panels were light,
easily carried by two persons.

   When building a "wall" the panels were laid out in two rows
face down on the floor, with their bottoms 2 feet apart.
Adjacent panels in each row were bolted together through the
frames on the back.  Then each face was walked up into vertical
position by a crew of hands, like raising a barn.  The two
backsides of the wall were connected by horizontal and diagonal
braces nailed to the frames, and any open ends were capped with a
piece of 2x12' 3/8" ply.  Partitions of any miltiple of 4' wide
were easily constructed; with a small assortment of 2' wide
panels and other special angled boards, innumerable
configurations were possible.  They could abut each other or the wall.

Panels were stored vertically.  At roughly 4"x48" each, an 8x8'
square of floor could hold 24 panels, enough for 48 linear feet
of partitions or 96' running feet of wall.  Pretty economical.

Finishing was done by a strip of 1" white masking tape over the
joint between panels, and a bit of touchup paint.  They were a
bit "rough", not as slick and flawless as your sheetrock
constructions, but they were relatively quick and easy and made
the gallery an incredibly plastic and dynamic space.

Sometimes I miss the good old days of quick turnarounds between shows,
I certianly think of the crews I used to work with...

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   Stephen B. Ringle, Registrar             [log in to unmask]
   University of Maine Museum of Art
   5712 Carnegie Hall, Room 109              vox: 207-581-3257
   Orono, Maine   04469-5712                 fax: 207-581-3083
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