Lightness is a new moving image project, shot at the end of summer 2014 in Greenwich, London & Glenelg, Scotland. I am going into the wilderness in search of the stars - the celestial kind. Lightness will be my first solo 16mm film project shot mostly at night with some digital intervention, an attempt to restore in the viewer some of the lost wonder & humbleness felt when stargazing.
Some of my most profound moments have been whilst viewing the stars in remote areas of the world. Due to burgeoning light pollution, magnificent celestial displays are sadly not something many urban dwellers experience. A little piece of magic disappears from our grey world.
I am embarking on an expedition to the remote village of Glenelg, in the Scottish Highlands, to
film on my 1960s Bolex camera (gifted to mer by Terence Preston, the microbiologist star of Small Wonders). Glenelg boasts some of the most unspoilt night's skies in the UK, which alongside filming, I plan to capture the seasonal tourist Glenchurlish ferry between Glenelg & Skye & meet the crew. I am interested in finding out about their lives & philosophies.
In London I will meet & record conversations with urban astronomers & enthusiasts, perhaps
anecdotes of their first cosmic experiences & how best to see the stars in populated areas. These recordings may be used for the soundtrack of the film.
As part of the Lightness project there will be an online research blog which will be contributed to by artists & writers. Lightness will be screened at my solo show at The Bohunk Institute, Nottingham in November 2014 and further venues, to be announced. Lightness will prelude a sister film project called Darkness made on an Australian Arts Council residency in Finland over the winter of 2014-15.
This project is being made with the aid of an Arts Council grant.