THE SPACE BETWEEN | STATE OF MIND 4

The Space Between | State of Mind re-mix 4

Four separate films make up the body of work The Space Between and have at their core the ʻpoetics of location’. Inspired by Chris Marker’s seminal film-essay Sans Soleil (1983) which reflects on time, memory and place, State of Mind brings elements of the documentary into the gallery space to expand upon film space inside and outside the picture frame. Three of the films were filmed in an abandoned rural country store and house in Co.Tyrone, Northern Ireland reflecting on its history and its place in the present.

The first film locates the viewers position looking at an arial photograph of the building. The camera then takes flight through the open front door and moves around vacant rooms.

The second film shows a young women sitting in a rocking chair by the window, waiting: Images from another time, memory time, inter-cut with the close-up of the body and the physical gesture of her contemplative rocking.

The third film uses a still image from one of the rooms as it was found; a pair of wellington boots sit in font of a two bar electric fire, waiting for their owner to return. The sound of continuous rain falling on the attic roof completes the desolate scene.

The fourth film is a loop of a young girl running with an open accordion through a green lane way.

“One watched a flickering figure emerge from the darkness, a young woman playing an accordion, running down a tree lined lane. With the camera’s constant movement and the crepuscular tone of both film and milieu, one was reminded of some of Stan Brakhage’s 1950’s work, especially Anticipation of the Night” Chris Townsend, CIRCA Art Magazine, 2005

The single screen version of State of Mind#4 (10mins/super8/col/dvd) screened at Tate Britain in Altered States of Consciousness (April 06) Novosibirsk State Art Museum, Russia, (March 06) International Video Art & Architecture Festival, Indiana University Art Gallery (USA - March 17 and 18, 06), River's Edge FilmFestival, Kentucky, USA (August 17-20, 06) It was included in Poetry Film Vol. 1 - the UK's first Film-Poetry DVD Anthology: Screened at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff & Chicester Film Society (Nov 05). It was also presented at Sonica Festival of Art and Sound in Glasgow 2012.