Archive this
/As part of our activity, we film and/or record events that we produce where possible. The reason is not just for archive purposes. It's not about putting it in a drawer or shelf, and forgetting. The puzzling and complex, and sometimes almost full-time job aspect of filming and deciding whether to film or not, is that as soon as you make the decision to do it, you have to do something with it. Look at it, examine it, edit it (which can take ages if there’s poor lighting or staging for example). At the very least you need to file it, or mark it for someone's attention later down the line. I also appreciate after having had some experience by now that you have to think about what you are doing. Is it going to be good? (and what is good). What look and feel are you aiming for? why? Edited films and videos, when done well, can be an artform in themselves, separate to the live performance that the camera was fixed upon. As an organisation we’re not there yet, in production and infrastructure terms, but we're thinking about these aspects, and adapting, and trying to be better, as we go on.
Here are some of our videos:
From the 'Art For Change' event in June at New Art Exchange, we brought together audiences to explore themes around arts for social justice through panels, an audience Q and A and presentations by writers, community interest groups, and arts activists.
See some highlights from the day:
A Performance by Mark Gwynne Jones
(part of a performance filmed at Free Word)
A performance by Peak District poet Mark Gwynne Jones, who is well regarded for bringing an almost music hall edge to his performance. Mark presented at New Art Exchange a 'Melding Voices' show with India based poet and translator Mamta Sagar – billed as England's Peak District meets India's Karnataka in a melding of voices.
Day of the Unread
Not one of our videos, this was one of the films screened at Art For Change given to us by local writer, journalist and LeftLion editor James Walker. More than 100 people took part in the Nottingham city centre reading flashmob in 2014. Organised by Dawn of the Unread, they sat on the floor at the strike of 12pm to have a quiet read, to highlight the importance of hard copy books and to protest against the closure of libraries across the country.
Telling Tales Slam
In this video Medieval meets Modern in a sizzling staged slam of poets PATIENCE AGBABI, KYRILL POTAPOV, FRANCESCA BEARD, STEVE TASANE and MICHAEL BROME, and neo-medieval musical responses by DJ: PSYKHOMANTUS. Each poet took on a character from Patience Agbabi’s poetry collection, Telling Tales. The audience at the live slam event which was a partnership between Apples and Snakes, Tilt, Renaissance One and The Albany, got to vote on their favourite character (won by Michael Brome).