as we approached the start of 2020 i felt an excitement at the thought of later in 2020 the non linear work will be finished and viewable in the museum.
what to call the work remains a mystery and as we get closer to the installation i’m confident that a title will emerge as the work itself starts to appear from the research.
the working relationship with sue ball remains an important aspect of the work – our conversations allow for reflections/investigations into the recent progress and how that might manifest itself in the coming weeks.
recently the first set of footage for sign off by the main contractor has been delivered. i’m happier about this part of the process now, having been able to accept it into the workflow.
in preparing the footage, the research has taken me into how might the words of those working onsite narrate the edits and how might the narration inform the edits.
with the major building work starting to be completed i’ve begun having conversations with those involved to generate potential narrative elements. this is challenging as those working on site are very focused on their tasks. often the conversation will be just a minute or so. i do believe the final work will be of more interest with voices from site telling the story.
as well as visiting the main site i’ve continued to visit the model railway volunteers to follow their progress. they’ve told me about the new digital control system and witness for myself the beginnings of the journey to rewire all the boards that go to make the layout.
what else can i say?
oh yes, recently i’ve spoken at length with rachel, one of only a handful of women onsite at the silk mill. she looks after the mechanical aspects of the work. part of our conversation was around the installation of the underfloor heating in the civic hall and ducting in the gallery.
all the way through this work i’ve had one eye on what’s happening right now and what’s coming up in the next few weeks.
the next block of editing is around the renovation of the windows.
making a non linear work is not without its challenges. if the project were linear we’d be working to a particular narrative with me as the auteur looking to be build and resolve tension – in a traditional documentary sense.
part of the research is to establish a starting point for the editing process. i’ve been successful in this and from this foundation i can sense what other narrative blocks i want to create. the sense i have in creating the blocks then inform the keyword linking within the non linear project and from there the work is almost complete !
sue tells me we’re in good shape with this project. soon we’ll have the installed environment ready to be signed off and the reality of the work being in the museum of making aligns itself with the museum being finished and open. its an awesome project to be involved with and i’m so excited by the thought of the coming months with the move from building work to recanting the collections. between you and me i’m also looking forward to when i can go to the museum of making and not need the ppe required to be on site currently!
