Stickers On The Central Line

My friend Giuseppe sent me this great blog. Site-specific indeed.
Stickers On The Central Line.

Edgelands 4

Marion Shoard was the inspiration for the poets Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts to write Edgelands. Here is a link to her 2002 essay.

Edgelands 3

I recommend listening to the authors reading their book on Radio 4.

Helen Saunders

Thanks to the use of one of her images on the book Edgelands, I have had the pleasure of discovering the work of Helen Saunders. Apart from a subjective pull towards her wonderful pieces, the subject matter, the research and the method of execution are very similar to mine. Her work is very much collage-based and reflects a subjective appraisal of place. I have been developing the Non-Places idea, and this no-man's-land essence runs through her work too which will ensure I keep abreast of her portfolio. There are hints at surrealism here in the slight manipulations of content and perspective which I very much admire, and to my untrained eyes, the photography is reminiscent of Keith Arnatt.

J G Ballard

I have been thinking about Place and Englishness in English poetry recently thanks to the frequent quoting of Blake, Tennyson and particularly John Clare. I bought a small collection of Clare's work and found them to be really charming.
Thinking about poetry, I then was reminded of the huge emphasis upon place in many of J G Ballard's brilliant books.
Born out of the development of my Non-Places project, I am going to experiment with a Ballard piece or series of pieces. I will begin with Concerte Island and High Rise. Partly as they are the books I enjoyed the most but because fortunately are more straightforward to begin obtaining pertinent recordings.

Edgelands 2

Having discovered this phenomenon a week or so ago, I naturally bought the book. I have been thinking of these areas in the same context of non-places, the same un lived-in feel that these places exude is really interesting especially as they owe their existence to the needs of people then the people abandon them. Looking forward to digging deeper. There was an interview with the authors on the Today Programme which might interest.

Non-Places 2

This side-project is starting to take shape. I'm not sure if it will be substantial enough to be included in my portfolio, but it is starting to be quite interesting. I have the beginnings of a piece from a Tesco check-out area and an hour on Clapham Junction station.

Edgelands

I came upon this exciting new area this morning thanks to Radio 4's Today programme. Edgelands are mobile masts and gravel pits, business parks and landfill sites that occupy the non-places around England that are the strange lands between the town and the countryside. I need to get the book and find out more.

Non-Places

As an adjunct to the portfolio project, I have begun recording in Non-Places. I was interested to read Marc Auge's book on the subject ant thought about representing these strange places that we all know, inhabit and transit at some point in our daily routine.
Supermarket check-out, cash machine or waiting room. They are usually dull as dishwater and spaces we invest very little of ourselves in, and yet we all have to be part of some of them all the time. I have a supermarket check-out area as my test pilot.