Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of South Wales (joint submission with Cardiff Metropolitan University and University of Wales Trinity Saint David)
‘Curtain’
At 3rd edition of Videoholica, Varna, Bulgaria
Research Context
‘Curtain’ is part of a long-term photographic research project that looks at construction sites from locations situated on the upper floors of high-rise developments. Bobby, after the philosopher Marc Augé has deemed these spaces ‘non-places’, where a person is “relieved of his usual determinants” and because they are transitional spaces, is suspended from every-day life for the time it takes to transport us from one place to another.
Research Imperatives
This research through practice attempts to explore the philosophical and strategic aspects of representation in a manner precise enough to allow interpretive formulations that not only serve to enhance the work, but also question our understanding of our environment, our place therein, and our passage through it.
Project methods
This body of work develops ideas of stasis and movement and explores the borders of contemporary photographic practice. Bobby uses a combination of interior and exterior still images and video. Straight editorial-like images, video pieces taken from a fixed camera position (including sound), and more abstract responses to the subject matter are placed within the same exhibition, allowing the three approaches to create an intriguing dialogue and critique of these exclusive locations.
The work was developed through a series of studies including images taken in 10 major cities - Frankfurt, Dubai, Taipei, Seoul, Rotterdam, London, Paris, Kaohsiung, Berlin and Manchester. The location for each image is not revealed, allowing for a blurring of context to exist throughout the project.
Dissemination
Initially selected for 3rd edition of Videoholica, held in Varna, Bulgaria, 2010. ‘Curtain’ was selected to close the whole festival. An international jury included ‘Curtain’ in a ‘Special Selection’ of 18 works from the whole festival. Most recently exhibited as a 22-metre projection onto the flytower of the National Theatre on London’s Southbank June 2013.
