Spoken with a voice of Authority

The exhibition opens next Wednesday (the 6th of August) with a screening of the work and an artist led discussion. This will be a chance for people to see the work and to talk with me about it and my other work, it will be fairly informal, or at least I hope so as I've not prepared for formal other than planning to iron a shirt.

I am feeling much more comfortable about the project this week. That said I still have my reservations about the work, I think there are still too many unknown factors until the work is finished. I'm intrigued to see how it turns out.

I have really been enjoying Labyrinths this week by Borges. It's such complex writing that is so simple to read. Concise and to the point more than any author. One story I found particularly relevant was Pierre Menard, author of the Quixote I shan't elaborate on why as there I cannot write as concisely as he, but I shall just encourage you to read it yourself.

Yesterday I completed the publication with a bit of help from Borges. It's far later going to press than I was wanting, but it should be here in time for the opening all being well. Now the pressure is on to get the video completed. The initial process is fairly laborious, just trawling through all the footage to find the most relevant aspects. Most of this has been done now, just a few bits I've re-shot that needs working on.

I'm quite pleased with the text I've written for the catalogue. It functions in much the same way as the video will do. Statements and extracts are placed next to each other to build this fractured narrative that is intentionally confusing with an underlying reason. The gaps or fractures in the text (and in the footage) leave room for the reader (viewer) to build on the ideas put forth in the text.

This week has seen the half way point come and go again in a flash. It’s been an interesting week in which I’ve taken stock of the work I have produced so far. This led initially to a brief panic attack as the footage I had shot so far was nothing like that which I had planned to shoot, and was not going to produce the effect that I wanted to with the film.

This week has also had me sleeping in three locations so far. Tonight will make it four, and then Saturday five different beds which I think will probably be a new record for me, although I can’t be sure as I have never before felt it necessary to count. This has made it difficult to concentrate fully on the problems with the footage, but I think that now, after having slept in a proper bed I have resolved more than one way around the problem.

My intention from the beginning of the residency has been to produce a documentary film that will chart a largely fictionalised history of the gallery. The film was to be largely convincing in it’s tone and means of production, with a number of subtle defects that undermine the whole thing. The aim of the piece was to generate a response of uncertainty, caught between belief and disbelief. However, the content of the footage I have collected thus far is too far from being believable to achieve this. When the initial realisation set in I encountered a certain degree of despair, however this rapidly passed, and after much pondering I am now pleased to discover the benefits in this realisation.

Although I will not be able to produce the exact piece of work I set out to produce I think that, in many ways, the film will prove more interesting, more engaging to an audience whilst dealing with similar issues as well as a few more. In addition to raising questions about the voice of authority of any gallery or art work, the piece may also touch on the voice of authority that young professionals in the arts industries attempt to project (including myself).

This unanticipated additional aspect will reflect quite nicely on the process involved in the project. The residency has been a learning experience for me in many ways, not least has been my negotiation with the local art industry, which is incredibly different to the one I am used to. Although many of those I have met here have been encouraging, there is, nonetheless, a greater competition for recognition. This fact I think will be reflected in the work now. Whether a subconscious decision, or merely a happy accident, the result could prove an interesting twist.

It's been some time since I wrote a post, for which I apologise. Last week was an unpleasantly busy week. Unpleasant because most of my busy-ness has not been due to making work but due to things like moving house from borough to tooting on the tube doing a few favours and getting myself organised.

That said I have been able to do some good filming. On Monday Matt Cooper (an Artist and Musician) came down from Nottingham and presented his musical stylings for the camera. I managed to assemble a small crowd of friends and a few beers for the event and it came out really well. I shot the footage in black and white, and used limited spot lighting to enhance the atmosphere and lend it a feel of authenticity. In addition to adjusting the overall appearance to give it an authenticity and age I included a number of incontinuities, red herrings to indicate that something is slightly amiss.

On Thursday I did some filming with Sam Mercer, another Nottingham based Artist, this I shot in colour with the colour levels ramped up and again with patchy spot lighting to create a darker atmosphere and to give it an aged feel. However, This needs further manipulation to get the look just right. Then this morning I interviewed James R Ford, who has worked with the gallery on a number of occasions, this was a fairly straight-forward interview that I will be able to manipulate sufficiently to my own ends, it was also good to be working with someone who I don't know so well as I feel it made the interview process a more natural one.

The difficulty with talking about the filming I am doing on this blog is that, not only do I not want to give too much away before it is done, but also I am not entirely sure how exactly I will use the footage in the final piece, so if this all sounds a bit vague then you might want to look back at the first post which depicts how the project should result, or you can always contact me with questions. I have purposfully left the interviews fairly ambiguous to allow for a multitude of interpretations in the final edit, Indeed some of the footage may even be doctored in such a way that it can be used in two different sections of film so this is tricky

This evening I will be heading back to nottingham for a couple of days to do some filming and photo shoots up there. It started off as a trip home with one potential shoot. Now it's looking more like two days of solid work, but it will be really good to get the bulk of the filming done this week so I can get on with the tricky, and ultimately far more important job of the post production. It is really in the editing that I will be able to set the tone of the film and make it what it is. I also have to return the Edirol I borrowed (along with everything else) from Nottingham Trent University. I will still be in need of an audio recorder to do the voice over, as well as a good voice over actor. If anyone has an Edirol, or indeed a good clear voiceover voice they want to lend/give to me for a bit then please make yourself known? It would be much appreciated, I could pay you with a beverage of your choice but not much else I'm afraid.

After filming James today I have been busy playing around with the post production tools looking at what I've captured so far and messing around with the ways in which I can doctor the footage. For me this is really where I see the work starting to come together. This whole piece is about playing with people's preconceptions of authenticity and originality, so it's in the post production that I have to make the footage appear authentic, I have to give it a sense of origin. It is this provenance that is key to how well the piece will work so it's crucial tha I get it right and don't over-cook it.

In addition to this however I have one eye constantly on planning the next step. I find it very easy to become absorbed and as a result I sometimes drop the ball on something else and don't realise until later. I can't really afford to with this project so I am having to constantly remind myself of what is left to be done in order to get everything I want into the film.

phew. right I'd better do some actual work.

PS. Sorry there are no images to acompany this post, I do have some great stills from the video footage, however I've also run into technical problems this week in that my wireless adaptor isn't working. Thus I am using an arcane laptop which just refuses to talk to my PC. The troubles of technology!

Daay 1 in the Ferreira Studio.

On arriving, Jeffery set up his studio spaace with a desk and work area in one corner, and plenty of space to set up and try out shots. He then started to plan out the woork he will be maaking.

He started by drawing up a specification and design plan for a publication.

He maade a scale model just to maake sure it would work and sent that off to the printers to get a quoote. Although it is a bit complicaated he is hohping it should be cost effective.

He believes he will find out the cost on Day 2 in the Ferreira Studio.

Laaater, he started filming for the film.

As it is First Thursday, where all the east end gallery's open late, the gallery was open late.

This Thursday the Art Walk caame around to the space to discuss the work in the gallery's current exhibition.

Jeffery set up some tripod's in a few different places in the gallery to cover several angles to capture some generic shot's of the spaaace.

With about twenty people in Ferreira for the walk, Jeffery took the opportunity to introduce the residency on it's first day.

Although there isn't much of the residency work for him to show, he set up a screen in the studio space to present the last video piece he made with comedian James Haaaately, a brief introduction to communism.

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Day 2 in the Ferreira Studio.

Today Jeffery has started to capture the footage he shot yesterday.

He has Edited the press release for it to be printed and put on the wall of the studio space.

He has written an entry on the a-n project blog in the style of a Big Brother Commentary.