Everyone is making last-minute preparations as at last Wilson and Byron's Vermilingua Contemporary Gallery opens its doors.
Well, door.
As soon as Byron has finished erecting the signage he'll be going out to the Gallery to give all the display cases a final polish.
Uncle Zoltan is in the gift shop checking his Fisher-Price Cash Register to make sure he doesn't have any 'float' – thus ensuring that he never has to give any change!
Wilson isn't contributing much to the proceedings, being fully occupied with pacing up and down nervously and wondering whether to accept only contactless payment to minimise his chances of infection with the Covid-19 Virus…
He has secretly admitted to me that, what with the Coronavirus Pandemic, this is a less than optimal time to be opening a crowded indoor attraction.
I don't think he needs to worry unduly about that, as I shall be surprised if anyone turns up – and if they do, he's got a good supply of Souvenir Antiseptic Hand Gel available in the Gift Shop…
I haven't mentioned to him that today is also Friday 13th!
Today is the day Wilson's Vermilingua Contemporary Art Gallery was to have opened to the public.
However, the launch has had to be delayed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic – not because of fears of cross-infection in the confined Gallery space but because Wilson is to undertaking what he vaguely describes as 'Vital Public Health precautionary work'.
He hasn't told me exactly what's involved, but he and Nërp have gone out together to, as Wilson expressed it, 'Save the public from the scourge of Viral Contamination!'
I'm so proud of him for selflessly taking on this work – whatever it is – for the Public Good, without any thought of profit or reward!
I'm sure the Gallery will open as soon as this essential humanitarian work is completed – probably 13 March – but in the meantime, keep washing your hands!
The Vermilingua Contemporary Gallery is due to open to the public in a couple of days, so my conducted tour must sadly draw to a close.
The final display on my visit consisted of a glass case with a couple of balloons in it.
'Balloons With Two Artists' Breath?' I guessed.
'Absolutely not!' Wilson snorted, 'this is a totally different work based on a totally different concept… although I will concede that, like "Balloon With The Artist's Breath" it does feature balloons. This piece, however, is based on an idea by Martin Creed, who half-filled rooms with balloons and made people walk through them.'
He paused while I considered this.
'It's in a small display case,' he continued, because we couldn't afford enough balloons to half-fill a whole room… and we couldn't actually spare a whole room either. It does lose rather a lot of its impact at this scale, I'm afraid.'
