The World Within Us1987

I’d organised, co-produced and directed a 5 part series for Channel 4 television on the subject of Video Art (I had a principle I’d operated which was to not put in any of my work though - because I felt that was taking advantage if the situation). Prior to that Channel 4’s series Ghosts in the Machine went out on Channel 4 and when the next Ghosts arrived they contacted me with a commission for the series (I was surprised as a partial competitor). DO I created "The World Within Us” which was inspired by four elements: the impending arrival of digital manipulation that was now possible, a line from John Cowper Powis Glastonbury Romance (She listened with the patience of women of all ages, as men as they are won’t to do, muse upon things greater than themselves), the work of Andrei Tarkovsky with regard using the deeper functionalities of duration of the image (which Bill Viola has explored to great effect) and a conclusive episode in my life, the death of a 30 year old friend from cancer. That’s a heady mix in anybodies terms. This work went on to win prizes for innovation at both the Montbeliard and Locarno Festivals (and other festivals including the Tate in London) as well as being screened on Channel 4, PBS (Alive from Off Centre) and French TV (Avance Sur Images). This work is of its time of course - but its peaks of human ennui - and that continues…