Art Comment! - the experiment...

So, at the weekend I finally decided it was time to actualise a project I've been imagining for some time called 'Art Comment!'. The idea was to make a series of two minute films which would consist of me sprinting around London and standing around outside art galleries attempting to pretend to be a critic. Sort of like a critique of the critics... I wanted it to be quite impromptu and experimental, and so hadn't scripted these short sequences.

The idea for 'Art Comment!' stemmed from an interest in how art is discussed in the mass media, and consequently how/why the public are encouraged to see certain exhibitions etc. over others. I wanted to attempt to make my own sort of mini art reportage, and see if I could ever find a place for myself as an acclaimed art orator like Andrew Graham-Dixon or Matthew Collings or Brian Sewell (note: why are they all men??). In addition, I wanted to try and make sense of the meaning of art (!!!) in my own head, namely by focussing on what was happening in these galleries, while being brutally personal about myself and my own feelings, and then also looking at what was on the front page of the newspaper on that particular day. I suppose I was hoping to sort of reveal things in a new way; a grand attempt I know!

We (my brother Joe and I) began in the Southbank Centre, moving on to Trafalgar Square where a protest was going on. The protest was being made by amateur photographers under the slogan 'We are photographers, not terrorists'. From there we gadded over to a pub in Russell Square before heading to the British Museum. The journey finished back at the Southbank Centre where we had tickets to see Circus Klezmer which was part of the London Mime Festival. Although I'm embarrassed of the short films we did make, I feel that they were vital experiments for me all the same. I found that I lost all notion of why I wanted to do this project or what the ultimate point was as soon as the camera was on me, and I struggled to keep going throughout the day. Nevertheless, as a first attempt and as a series of experiments I hope that they might prove useful in helping me find my voice.

Please go to the YouTube links above to view some of these attempts...