For my latest body of work please visit the home page

Artefact: 2 Spectacle

LINK 1

LINK 2

Leading up to my Second Artefact 07/11/08

I have created two sets of photographs for the theme on spectacle, each deals with a pre-planned event which has attracted a lot of people. The first set was taken at a Formula one venue. The second set a Military event in rural Kent.

I think a key thing to mention, is that when taking this photos, I was in the moment, much like everybody else who paid their hard earned money to enjoy themselves. It is hard to look at them from a different perspective. But having thought about it I believe it makes these photos an honest depiction of a spectacle from the point of view of someone engaged with the experience. After all, I was not a journalist  with access to the most secretive areas of the event nor did I take the pictures from the most commercially viable angles. So does that make them less powerful as a result? or more  powerful because they depict the spectacle from the viewpoint of the masses.

The Formula one cars and drivers which are likely to be  the main attraction, they seem so small and insignificant in comparison to my military themed set where the attractions are bursting out of the frames. This is no accident and is not something you think about at the time. There are boundaries and implications when dealing with a spectacle, especially a Formula One venue, from the my own viewpoint i could best compare the photographic experience to recording the film your trying to watch whilst inside a cinema, (not that i have tried this) but there is a feeling of detachment and hopefully this is conveyed in the pictures, more so than in the military themed set.

I was originally quite indecisive on choosing a medium in which to produce my spectacle themed work.  I was tempted to produce another animation, as I  felt I could’ve progressed on my last work and created a richer more diverse experience. However I needed to make sure I looked at other possibilities and therefore not monopolising my work.

I may, in my own leisure produce a spectacle based animation at some point in the future.

Bread and Games 31/10/08

“Bread and Circuses” is an ancient Roman metaphor has considerable meaning in terms of the spectacular event. The term was used by the rulers of Rome and depicted their econmony of power in relation to the people at the lower end of the hierarchy, the spectator. It demonstrated that people watching a spectacle will eat and watch something to satisfy a trivial interest rather than choose to be free in the context of challenging Rome’s political agendas and the appropriation of how they lived and worked. The term is basically suggesting we as a spectator, of any sort, Hollywood movie, Sporting event or watching street performers use this avenue to congregate, forget our problems and responsibilities and merge into this world where we share the same agendas as the people around us. We do not have to care what we do or think.

This also deals with the illusion of taking part, the spectator feels they are taking part or are making a contribution, when in fact their presence has little or no effect on the outcome of the event.

I’ve come to the conclusion it is simply a form of control, perhaps one of the most effective forms! because it is in public demand and because it’s dressed up in clever ways it goes unnoticed and most importantly it is wanted by the public so it must be “a good thing”. But perhaps its just the worlds largest and most accepted brain washing machine. Brushing the dust under the rug.

Project: shows that spectacle brainwashs. But it is irrisistable. We consume it yet leave with nothing but a memory.

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” Albert Einstein

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” Henry Thoreau

Wikipedia

Strike the Root

Decimus Junius Juvenalis

City Centre Speed Chess 18/10/08

Last week i found myself passing by the city centre, here in Coventry.

I saw a few people standing around near a telephone booth, it looked like they were there for a charitable purpose, they had a picnic blanket laid out, on top was a crude message which confirmed my initial assumption.

I walked straight past without paying much interest but was slightly curious about the relevance of a chess board laid out in the middle of a busy street.

I returned later to find they were still there. In fact the small group of people represented the No.1 Jamaican Speed Chess champion.

The crude message on top of the picnic blanket was in fact a challenge, he wished to play anyone in a game of 3 minute speed chess.

The cultural assumption about coventry, especially the city centre would suggest such an act was a waste of time, he might’ve even been ridiculed. However to my surprise people started gathering. Characters of the city emerged as it brought together people who appeared to have a common interest, maybe they liked chess, maybe they were just curious as to what the commotion was about. Before his game he would make subtle announcements about who he was playing, one gentleman was a high ranked Polish player. Suddenly there is an appropriation to the challenge. He was playing someone worthy. The speed of the game coupled with a portable music player turned the event into a spectacle.