WE Conference is part of the Jerusalem Season of Culture, it ran from 14th - 15th August. I was invited to take part in this festival, install work in a space and hold discussions about collective work. This was collaborated with Adam Murray and Rob Griffiths. Although this project wasn't directly linked to what projects I am working on with my course work, the approach and output does. The idea was to bring parts of what inspired us to start the collective. We installed two prints, one of an industrial landscape of Preston. The other a portrait by Jamie Hawksworth. Then we installed elements of my bedroom which our first zine was produced. This included posters, flyers, a flag, and Polaroids. Rob Griffiths produced a Prestonian soundscape. We reproduced Preston Bus Station's 'famous' yellow arrows, and finally we installed a live webcam of the Preston landscape. Using a broad range of mediums brought a more informative view of how and why we started the collective. For me this was also an experiment, to see if this method would work for my project on the new Metro system.
After researching artists who document changing landscapes like Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz of the New Topographics, and the ongoing mammoth archive of Mass Observation, I began to see the limitations of the images that they produced. I am aware that Mass Observation project wasn't solely photographic based, but the New Topographics mainly was. Their approaches are still relevant but with new media, more can be now be brought to a project. But who is my audience and what is the point of producing this material? This is where the ethos of such collectives and projects from the past still links strongly today. Urban sprawl and new developments often get over looked as subjects of creative practice, often because they are seen as unimportant or an eye sore. In 'Learning from Las Vegas' by Robert Veturi, it talks about how a new developing space strongly reflects current issues of the time (FIND QUOTE + RETHINK) and needs to be studied to understand and address what is happening in society.
My documentation of the Metro could be a starting point for discussion (STORY TELLING? STORY ABOUT Scrapbook) about everyday life now and what change this new development will bring. Below I have experimented with a few images I have made around the Metro lines. The expressive temporary construction markings could be reproduced alongside photographs of the landscape. I have also included a video clip of which the sonic artist I'm working with has produced the audio for.
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