COMMON ENCOUNTERS
BY RICHARD DE CAZALET
COMMON ENCOUNTERS BY RICHARD DE C AZALET
CONTENTS Mapping
1
Introduction
6
Methodology
10
Common Photography
12
‘a place to...’
54
Acknowledgements
55
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Man is called by the ancients a world in miniature and certainly this name is well applied, for just as man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, so is the body of the earth. If man has in him bones which are the support and armour of the flesh, the world has rocks which are the support of the earth; if man has in himself the sea of blood, in which the lungs rise and fall in breathing, so the body of the earth has its oceanic sea which also rises and falls every six hours for the world to breathe. If from the said sea of blood spring veins which go on ramifying through-out the human body, similarly the oceanic sea fills the body of the earth with infinite veins of water.� - Leonardo da Vinci
Common Encounters: Introduction
INTRODUCTION Common Encounters is a site-specific project, which explores the notion of ‘place’. The work focuses on Wimbledon Common, an area of natural beauty spanning over 1000 acres amidst the urban sprawl that is Greater London. This publication provides an overview of the work, explaining the artistic approach and identifying the critical concerns of the project. The widely appropriated, yet slippery term, Psychogeography lends itself well to this project. Defined in 1955 by French Situationist, Guy Debord as: ‘The study of the specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.’ Psychogeography raises the question: how does an individual’s actions define the environment he or she inhabits? And reversely, how does a physical environment affect the occupying individual? This project is an investigation into the way in which life experiences, memories of past events, and the accompanying emotions can form relationships and connections with a given territory, in this case Wimbledon Common.
Before going any further, I feel it is important to briefly differentiate between the terms ‘space’ and ‘place’. Place is a term which is hard to pin down. Unlike space, it is intangible and impossible to understand simply in terms of physics. Space can be defined as a geographical territory with no direct relational indentity. It is infinite and unspecific. Historically, the term place may also refer to a territory or location, yet it is no longer strictly a geographical term and may just as easily be used to describe something metaphorical or even a state of mind. Tacita Dean, a Berlin / London based artist whose works deal with the notion of place suggests, “Place can never be generalised; it will always connect to somewhere in our autobiographies - future and past.” The term place implies elements of historical or emotional charge. Thus, place forms an essential part of our sense of identity on sociological and personal levels. Common Encounters attempts to capture the essence of the place Wimbledon Common is today. It serves both as a visual reflection of my personal artistic interpretations and as a historical document of the people who inhabit it and their associations with the place.
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It is a universal truth that we hold certain places dear, hence the expression ‘there’s no place like home’. It is quite often the case when we look back on our childhood, we associate distinctive memories with the places in which they occurred; the place we went to school, the place we used to play, the place where we lived… Our physical environment provides the opportunity for actions and events to unfold, which in turn become a part of our personal history. The associated memories can present respective spaces in a familiar light, giving an environment a positive, or negative, affiliation. Thus, how we define a place ties closely to our memories. What one might regard as a place of personal significance, another may simply overlook. This is due to the subjective nature of place. Inevitably, places are in a constant state of change. This change can be seen in a tangible, physical sense of the word but also on an emotional, personal level. As a place grows, we grow along side it. Similarly, as a place wilts and becomes listless, our attachments may wane and break faith. However, perhaps the most exceptional thing about place is its power to live on in memory as ‘the place that was…’. ‘The Lionness’ 1995 Image by A. Northey
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“Places remember events” - James Joyce
Common Encounters: Methodology
METHODOLOGY A number of different techniques were employed in generating source material for this project. These included coordinating surveys, conducting interviews, and handing out disposable cameras to local residents. The latter proved to be the most successful method, producing a range of photography documenting the participant’s experiences on the Common through a impressionistic visual language. The following chapter of this book is the fusion of the visual and literary material produced from these methods. It is the coming together of individual thoughts, experiences and emotions from a broad demographic, transposed into a singular narrative. Despite the seemingly disparate sources of information, all of the individuals involved in the making of this publication are linked through underlying mutual factor: Wimbledon Common. This publication attempts to convey at least a fragment of the perpetually unfolding narrative of this Place.
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Common Encounters: Common Photography
#158 camera 7 17/03/2012
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#005 camera 1 16/02/2012
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#124 camera 5 14/03/2012
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#030 camera 2 27/02/2012
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“Knee deep in mud, and I fell flat on my face”
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“Gloriously decked out in reds and oranges.”
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#035 camera 2 27/02/2012
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#095 camera 5 11/03/2012
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#34 camera 2 27/02/2012
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“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.� - Marcel Proust
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#075 camera 3 07/03/2012
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#097 camera 5 11/03/2012
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“I would meet a friend there most weeks. We walked his dog and put the world to rights�
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“It often offers the finest experience.”
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#055 camera 2 27/02/2012
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#146 camera 7 17/03/2012
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#047 camera 2 27/02/2012
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#027 camera 1 16/02/2012
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#173 camera 9 03/04/2012
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“It is not down in any map; true places never are.� - Herman Melville
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#036 camera 2 27/02/2012
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#169 camera 7 17/03/2012
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“We took the little things for granted.�
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“The perfect thing for four tomboys.”
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#127 camera 5 11/03/2012
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#058 camera 3 07/03/2012
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“No one to tie us down.”
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“To move without restriction... a rare luxury.”
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#148 camera 7 17/03/2012
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“Each place is a unique location of change... no place is a fixed or concluded thing� - Roni Horn
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#061 camera 3 07/03/2012
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#153 camera 7 17/03/2012
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#143 camera 7 17/03/2012
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#088 camera 5 11/03/2012
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#104 camera 5 11/03/2012
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#062 camera 3 07/03/2012
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“Wrapped up in hundreds of layers.”
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“I recall the two-tone colour of the sky.”
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#179 camera 9 03/04/2012
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“I have realised in my search for a description of place, it is so often best imagined through the senses and through the memory of the senses� - Tacita Dean
... a place to rest a place to walk a place to think a place to grow a place to play a place to laugh a place to imagine a place to meet a place to discover a place to preserve a place to share a place to be still a place to reminisce a place to inspire a place to heal a place to dream a place to live a place to love a place to belong a place to ...
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Common Encounters: Acknowledgements
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to formally express my thanks to all the people who have helped me see this project through to its realisation: Maria Witrylak; James William Murray; Luke Pendrell; Mike Nicholson; Bev Whitehead; Tessa Northey; Rosa Rooney; Charlie Lindsell; My parents Linda and Edward; The Wimbledon Common Rangers; The staff in the Wimbledon Tea Rooms ...and finally: all of the people who used the disposable cameras as part of this project.
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Image by A. Northey (1995)
FOR MORE DOCUMENTATION OF THE PROJECT, PLEASE VISIT: www.commonencounters.tumblr.com FOR THE FILM, PLEASE VISIT: www.decazalet.com/common.html RICHARD DE CAZALET www.decazalet.com decazalet@gmail.com