Moving my Studio

Rocinante arrives at Cuckoo Farm Studios laden with stuff

I am in the process of retiring from teaching and as part of this I have begun moving studios from my research unit (EDAU) at Uclan in Preston to Cuckoo Farm Studios in Colchester, Essex. As this is going to have to be a gradual process, I made the first trip yesterday, taking the first load to its new home.

Interviews with Australian Video Artists now on-line.

Transcripts of a series of interviews I made with prominent Australian video artists during Oct 2011 have now been posted on this site. See Writings/Interviews section to see full transcripts of interviews with Warren Burt, Stephen Jones, Peter Callas, Gary Willis. John Gillies and Peter Kennedy.

My interview with the pioneering Japanese film-maker and video artist Takahiko Iimura will be published in the  next edition of MIRAJ (Moving Image Research Art Journal) in Spring 2012.

Research in Melbourne and Sydney: Oct 10th-23rd

Sydney Opera House from the Harbour

I have just returned from two weeks in Australia, visiting Melbourne and Sydney to interview artists who began working with video in the 1970’s and 80’s. Spent time in the Faculty of Art and Design and the Dept of Theory of Art & Design at Monash University, Melbourne. Dr Elena Galimberti, researcher at the Australian Video Art Archive enabled me to make contact with a number of important Australian artists as well as view work and access texts and background info. Met a number of key staff involved with research and teaching there including Professor Anne Marsh, Director of the Art Theory programme, Matthew Perkins, Studio Co-ordinator for New Media, Dr Dan Palmer, Senior Lecturer in Art Theory and Dr Vince Dziekan, Associate Dean, Research at Monash.

Artists  I interviewed in Melbourne included Warren Burt, Gary Willis and Peter Kennedy. I also met with Fiona Trigg, Assistant Curator at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and had a personal tour of the excellent facilities and exhibition space there.

In Sydney I met with Professor Ross Harley, Head of School of Media Arts, College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales. Artists interviewed include John Gillies, Peter Callas and Stephen Jones.

New collaborative project with Robert Cahen and Terry Flaxton

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Robert Cahen & Terry Flaxton, Sept 2011

Last week I began working on a new project with Terry Flaxton and Robert Cahen to develop a collaborative exhibition of moving image installation work. We spent three days at Terry’s studio in Somerset working together and discussing our approach, ideas, themes and working methods.

Interview with Robert Cahen and Chris Meigh-Andrews by Terry Flaxton

Cameras installed at Down House

I spent yesterday working with Rowan Blaik head gardener at Down House, installing the outdoor cameras around the old Mulberry tree in Charles Darwin’s Garden. The four cameras, which have been mounted in strategic sites encircling the venerable tree, have been programmed to take an image every six hours, and will produce a cumulative record of the tree’s growth as well as changes and human activity relating to the life of the tree within the garden.

I plan to retrieve the images every few months, building an archive of digital images for a web-based project and video installation at The English Heritage site at Down House, which is the former home of Charles Darwin.

Installing Camera 1 in a tree in Darwin's Garden, Down House, Kent

Camera 2, Darwin's Garden, Down House, Kent

A view of Camera 3 from the Mulberry Bush, Down House, Kent