SHORT WORKS OF ART
Having said all that we've said about academic approaches to reveal new knowledge through practice as research, at the Centre for Moving Image Research, we're fans of simple work too and as such we'd encourage short sharp creative gestures to loosen up the stuck-state an artist or researcher can sometimes find themselves in; usually described by writers. as the terror of the blank white page. So much of moving image practice involves huge logistics and huge effort, so we've decided to post online works that (hopefully) achieve the goal of engaging an audience, but actually eschew the normal modes of production. At the risk of criticism we offer this short piece which is called Les Petites Cartes Postales de Beijing, an homage to Robert Cahen's 'Cartes Postales' (originally created in 1987). In this newer work made in 2010, Terry Flaxton set himself some rules: go to a location for 4 hours, take a camera (in this case a Flip), take that camera and place it on a surface, floor or wall with little regard for framing and turn it on and accept what comes - then edit together to create a piece. These images may look highly composed but that is more a function of placement and with 35 years experience it's quite hard not to frame - even without being able to see what might be in that frame (though of course I occasionally 'aimed'). Judge for yourself whether in Les Petites Cartes Postales de Beijing, these rules worked. Further works can be found here More works on a simple theme - one location, one moment to achieve a work:
Zagorsk - 1992, USSR One Second to Midnight - UK 2006 In Re Ansel Adams - USA 2008 Autumn Dusk Cafe Scene - Italy, 2008 Les Petites Cartes Postales de Beijing - 2010, China - opposite Water Table/ The Power of the Sea - 2008/2014, UK & USA CMIR RWA KWMC Bursary Winners Terry Flaxton's latest commission is a triptych of three screens that will open at Bristol Cathedral and the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York on the same day in March 2015 - This is a restaging of Dali's Crucifixion which hangs above a cinemontage complied from images of Bristol and New York. The two side screens features portraits of young people from Bristol on the two side panels. This is a mock up and the final work will change in detail. The VC's of both the University of the West of England (Professor Steve West) University of Bristol (Professor Sir Eric Thomas) funded this work.
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Bristol Artists on the World's Stage
John Wood and Paul Harrison are based at Spike Island Recently CMIR funded 4 practice as research bursaries for practitioners at UWE, 4 bursaries for the RWA and 4 for Knowle West Media Centre (plus 4 academic writing bursaries). We feature these works above.
Alex Nevill's cinematography wins Best Experimental Award at ASFF
Alex is a new PhD Candidate with CMIR. 'Léthé' recently won the Best Experimental Award at Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2014 for his 16mm cinematography in collaboration with director Harald Hutter. The film follows a man with no apparent destination until a chance encounter with a strange young girl sets in a motion a series of events that will challenge his perception of reality. ADAM LAITY CDT/CMIR Doctoral student wins 2014 DepicT Royal Photographic Society AwardAdam created 'The Peace of Wild Things' which recently won the Winner of the 2014 DepicT! Royal Photographic Society Cinematography Award. Adam Laity is one of three CDT PhD candidates to have joined UWE very recently. Alex Neville also joins CMIR and Dani Landau joins Digital Cultures Research Centre.
The Peace of Wild Things from Adam Laity on Vimeo. |