Fig. 1: Still from my 4-minute ‘documentary’ film.
Fig. 2: An illustration of part of the Balfron Tower, taken from my dissertation “Hearing Ghosts”.
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Fig. 3: A user enjoying the collaborative project “Moon Kit”.
My work often focusses on similar themes; psychogeography* being one, the relationship between storytelling and reality being another. Within this book, you will find graphics, film, photography, conceptual design, and illustration. More specifically, you will find a documentary and an ‘academic’ book about imagined alien invasions in London (Fig. 1); psychogeographic zines; films recycled into other films; props that question our perception of the mind; and a collaborative project that staged a moon landing in Greenwich Park (Fig. 3). I enjoy finding new and different ways of looking at issues, and this is reflected in my broad body of work. * Psychogeography (noun): “The study of the influence of geographical environment on the mind or behaviour”- Oxford English Dictionary.
Fig. 4: A poster for the ‘documentary’.
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Fig. 5: Still from my 4-minute ‘documentary’ film.
Dead Space started from the broad idea of “escape”. Research into the Situationists’ psychogeographical writings and actions led me to a more specific focus on mentally escaping by fictionalising surroundings. I began to develop a mythology based on alien landings at unappreciated and neglected locations in London- mainly large roundabouts. Along with escapism, the aim became to provide these spaces with their own invented folklore. The 4-minute ‘documentary’ (Figs. 5 & 6) that resulted is equally indebted to the films of Patrick Keiller, and the retro science fiction aesthetic of Kubrick’s “2001...” and Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner”. The idea was to disembody the landmark from its surroundings, evoking an alien, unfamiliar landscape, and deceiving the audience into believing it to be strange and unearthly. The innocuous spaces I used became mythological and barren (another aspect of all the footage used is that there are never any humans visible other than myself). Alongside the film itself, I produced supporting material; the most notable of which were a series of maps (Figs. 7 & 10). These pinpointed the
Fig. 6: Still from my 4-minute ‘documentary’ film.
Fig. 7: A map documenting one of the alien invasions.
Fig. 9: Sample pages from the text. Fig. 8: The cover of the ‘academic’ text.
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Fig. 10: One of the maps documenting an alien invasion.
exact location of the “alien landings”, and, as a prop, added a degree of legitimacy to the mythology itself. The presentation given to my coursemates and tutors upon the film’s completion was a performance in which I took on the role of an academic expert on the events; this led to further development. The expansion of this project saw the addition of an ‘academic’ text (Figs. 8 & 9), which became a book designed to add weight to the myth. This text was another exercise in deception; I invented an academic author whose study of the “2012 alien landings” in London had earned him respect in the academic community. All photographs used within this text were taken by myself on exploratory trips around London to find the right spaces to use in the documentary film. This project allowed me to explore film-making, photography, world-building, performance, and book design.
Figs. 11, 12, 13 & 14: Sample pages from the first issue of “Fields Of Sky”
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Fields of Sky is an ongoing project in which I translate photographs of my surroundings into sketches of a dystopian world. It will manifest itself as a series of zines, produced bi-monthly, and is accompanied by an epic stream-of-consciousness poem, in instalments; the eventual aim is to produce a sort of catalogue documenting the world through an uncomfortable and sinister lens. With this project I continue to develop my interest in the line between real and fake; between life and stories. I have included some example pages from the first issue. The idea for this project was partially born out of my enjoyment of “Dead Space” when I was at university; “Fields of Sky” focusses on similar themes of alienation, estrangement from reality and surrealism. Inspired, like the former project, by the films of Patrick Keiller, it also owes a lot to my obsession with brutalist architecture, and the spaces in our cities which are often considered threatening or ugly (for instance, subways and spaghetti junctions).
Agoraphobia is a national disorder. To keep your mind in check, you focus on the ground, a littered, comforting flatness. Always a constant. Weave back through the drafty cold-smelling concrete tunnels, clattering back down flights and flights of stairs, round corners and through heavy steel doors that clang shut behind. Just imagine it’s another big room, bigger than the Communal Hall full of those old plasticine-smelling red plastic chairs you remember from school. You tread lightly, careful not to look up; a reverent, religious need not to look directly at what is above you.
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A faint BOOM echoes through the close-packed buildings, visibility is difficult at best and despite yourself, you look up. Only for a moment, your eyes deliberately unfocussed as if this will lessen the impact of the emptiness. It does not. The few vines and leaves that remain are out of place, ludicrous, even frivolous somehow. Why would life exist in a place like this?
Fig. 16: The cinema showing.
Fig. 17: A mockup of the “cinematic speakeasy”- a fictional location in which unlawfully spliced films could be watched.
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Fig. 15: A poster advertising the cinema showing of “PULPED”.
My final year project on the BA Design course at Goldsmiths, FILMPUNK began as an exploration of how algorithmic Hollywood film is; and whether it can be chopped up and recycled into new storylines. While its beginnings focussed on algorithms and reproduction, my research made it apparent that the laws around film do not allow such things (save for academic interest). The project, at this stage, became a process of subversive splicing; and a comparison with the parallel copyright laws within the music industry. While still restricted in some ways, music is allowed to be tampered with; to alter this would render the careers of DJs and many producers illegitimate. FILMPUNK comprises a series of methods for repurposing existing film to create effects or evoke specific feelings. One of the larger components of this is “PULPED”; a spliced re-imagining of Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”, in which every scene is transformed into a film of another genre, through splicing with other films. This was shown publicly in the Curzon cinema at Goldsmiths College on 6/05/16 (Figs. 15 and 16). A video showcasing many of the methods of film splicing used
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Fig. 18: Turning one film into another through splicing.
Fig. 19: A still from one of the reaction videos to “PULPED”.
Fig. 22: Sample pages from the booklet explaining the methods involved in “FILMPUNK”.
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Figs. 20 & 21: The leaflet documenting reactions to “PULPED”.
within FILMPUNK was shown at Known Unknowns; the Goldsmiths BA Design degree show. These methods included: extreme repetition of one action to create an effect (in this instance a door slam is repeated many times to the point of absurdity); and dissecting a common filmic device such as a bomb detonation into stages, and reconstructing it from different pieces of film. The aim of these exercises was to demonstrate film as a malleable material: I called it film mining. As part of the degree show, I created two publications which aimed to explain the project; a leaflet to discuss peoples’ reactions to “PULPED” (Figs. 20 & 21), and a booklet explaining “FILMPUNK” in a more in-depth way (Fig. 22).
Figs. 23 & 24: Sample pages from my dissertation, “Hearing Ghosts�.
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SONOGEOGRAPHY (noun): A specifically sound-based branch of psychogeography (“The study of the influence of geographical environment on the mind or on behaviour”- Oxford English Dictionary). Sonogeography was a term I coined during research for my dissertation, “Hearing Ghosts”; it was born out of a focus on sound and how it helps provide a sense of place. My explorations were driven, initially, by considering what would happen if hearing were the only sense that could be relied upon. My theory extended through the medium of film; I found the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound in movies to be helpful in analysing sound’s importance in providing geographical perceptions. In the pages shown, I analyse the films “A Clockwork Orange” (Kubrick) and “Blow Up” (Antonioni). These films become guides for a sound-based exploration of real life.
Fig. 25: An illustration of part of the Balfron Tower, taken from “Hearing Ghosts”.
Fig. 26: An illustration of Thamesmead, taken from “Hearing Ghosts”.
Figs. 27, 28 & 29: The “Super-Ordinary Medication” prop.
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Fig. 30: The leaflet accompanying the prop.
Super-OrdinaryŽ imagines a medication which allows people to try out living in someone else’s mind. Modern society values efficiency over mental wellbeing and empathy. Those with mental health issues are sidelined, prescribed drugs and left to their own devices; they are subsequently expected to integrate themselves with a society which is not willing to accept them as they are. This bottle of medicine is a prop; a conversation starter to ask people to imagine how this would feel, and whether they would be prepared to alter the workings of their own mind.
Figs. 31, 32 & 33: A user enjoying the “Moon Kit”.
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Moon Kit was an collaborative onsite experience design project. As a group, we were allocated Greenwich Observatory as the location for our intervention. After some initial research, and discussions and visits with astronomers working at the observatory, we settled on the idea of a moon landing for the masses. Using basic materials available in DIY stores, we gradually built up imitations of aspects of the ‘moon experience’; the zero gravity, the astronaut’s suit, the moon’s surface. Extensive research was done into astronauts’ accounts of weightlessness; and the end result was an immersive and effective experience built up from the most basic of materials.