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set in slate?
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set in slate?

research / filmmaking / animation / illustration
2022
winner of the focus wales celtic film award 2023
MA illustration final project
distinction from camberwell college of arts

  • this mixed media film investigates perceptions of cardiff’s
  • contemporary identity through the context of its public art

through using a section of public art as an anchor, i investigated the relationship it has with cardiff’s community

the film explores the social, historical and geographical context of this selection of public art to illuminate the layers to this display of cardiff's identity





set in slate? methods

i start the film with an introduction into how my perception of cardiff’s identity has formed through its visual displays of identity in public art
traditional national symbols of identity, the welsh language and the history of wales as repeating patterns, which when saturated enough, are absorbed into our subconscious and become almost meaningless
glitching

stills

glitching daffodil repeating pattern
glitching dragons repeating pattern
glitching rugby memorabilia repeating pattern
glitching leeks repeating pattern
john bachelor statue / glitching slate repeating pattern
tiger bay couple statue / glitching tiger stripes repeating pattern
aneurin bevan statue / glitching nhs repeating pattern
miner statue / glitching factory repeating pattern

the film goes on to explore specific pieces of public art, using methods such as interviewing residents of cardiff, secondary historical, social and geographic research, and my own perceptions formed from walking and observing the city

i structured the script to anchor the public art as the central narrative with context and perception weaving in and around it, shown through the public art as photographs, and the context mainly as animation

i chose to use some secondary images from archives because they were poignant points in history, and I want them to reference a time and a place


 Though often translated as ‘habitate’, cynefin is not just a place in a physical or geographical sense: it is the historic, cultural, and social place which has shaped and continues to shape the community which inhabits it.


research

photography / observational drawing / psychogeography walks
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above shows photographs and observational sketch research

secondary research into contemporary questions around public art brought about by the statue and black lives matter movements
the work of gaynor legall and tiger bay archives are asking these questions in cardiff
this is connected to the ways wales’ identity is constantly changing, from devolution in the late nineties, to the differences between welsh and english lockdown policies during the covid-19 pandemic
the book, welsh plural: essays on the future of wales is some of the most recent writing on the topic
these shifts are bringing questions about public displays of identity to the surface.

the philosophy of perception, including writings by maurice merleau-ponty, michel de siertoo and john lyons
when i was drawing people observationally in cardiff i noticed i could only ever be left with fleeting perceptions of identity through an individual 
but collectively, they changed my perception of that moment, because i noticed them in that space
thinking about this in terms of cardiff's public art, any addition contributes to the perception of Cardiff because it distorts the view of the space it is situated in
what once may have been a blank wall becomes that wall with the gwenno mural, or an empty pavement becomes the pavement where the nye bevan statue is

 my aesthetic inspiration has come from the influence digital methods have had on my process and perception of contemporary cardiff
i have looked at documentary film makers such as adam curtis, and writers which explore the non-space of cyberspace such as william gibson
the layers of connection between a city and its public art go beyond the city itself
the context takes you to a non-space where the only connection to the physical space is the public art