Project Reflection

From the start of the MA the core of my project has remained the same. My initial desire to work with archive footage broadcast in Northern Ireland over the course of the troubles has remained unchanged.

As my research developed it became more important for me to navigate through these vast historical visual records, selecting key sequences, manipulating and representing the material, frame by frame in many cases. Allowing the material to exist and work on an alternative level, extracting them from the corporate world of broadcast for which they were originally captured. Through attempting to access this material I now realise how prohibitive the structures are within the likes of the BBC, ITV, UTV, BFI, Pathe or even the National Film Archive for an individual wishing access to, and material from their archives. The market value of this material makes this both financially prohibitive and indeed these organisations are unresponsive to requests for much discounted rates given the intended use. The BBC have opened up their archives a great deal over the last couple of years, but it was also the cost of the volume of material that I needed to work through that made it unfeasible.

The BBC “On This Day” section of their website is great for viewing archival material and audio for the chosen date, but is only available to view online. They have also recently launched the BBC “Motion Gallery”, which is a searchable database of content from their archives. The British Pathe archive has also now a searchable database with download options, but there isn’t much from the period of the troubles in Northern Ireland. I did download one sequence but the compression on the clip made it inappropriate, and hard to extract figures from as their was a lot of blurring of edges and general lack of contrast.

Eventually I found out about Peter Heathwood through The Conflict Archive Northern Ireland (CAIN) website. Peter Heathwood was shot and paralysed in a gun attack on his home in 1979. Since 1981 he has recorded daily television news items, documentary programmes, history programmes, and current affairs programmes about Northern Ireland for his own private use. He has set up a searchable database of all his programmes to help researchers. When I contacted Peter he was very keen to help me navigate through his large collection, via email, to find the kind of footage I required. He then copied 12 hour worth of footage onto DVD for a nominal cost.

Working with this footage has reinformed my ideas for the final show installation. What was to be a 5 Screen “open” installation has become a three screen enclosed space, allowing a much more intimate experience for the viewer. I find the experience of remaining open to changes that the work will dictate both exciting and rewarding and feel that the work has become more concise.

All my research and the writing of essays informed my practice strongly. Although my initial MA idea was only for a multi screened video/sound installation, I have now another strand of digital photographic work that immerged directly as a result of my research trip around the Irish border. The initial photographs formed a typology of points where the Irish border intersected public roads. These where in colour, and straight forward in approach. After some time and reflection informed by further research I decided to make new photographic works along 100m sections of Irish border. The process of producing these photographic composite images has enabled me to act upon the thoughts that I have had from my research in a much quicker and direct way than in the installational work, which in turn has been influenced by these photographic works. I have found that having these dual strands of visual work helps to keep a better perspective on each, allowing the ideas that inform the pieces to cross fertilise and progress at a greater pace.

I feel Good about the position that my overall project is in. Although due to the late date at which I finally gained access to archival footage the last Month has been very manic and will remain so until the installation of the final show.
I am also pleased with the composite photographic works that I have made.
My intention is to develop both strands of work further after the summer MA show. I have already started to plan a trip around the frontier of the European Union, where I will develop the form of travelling on a motorbike with portable media lab that I started last summer around the border of Northern Ireland. Since early in my MA, my intention has been to use the familiar territory of the Irish border to develop research and a solid ideological heart within my work, enabling me to then make informed work from travels through less familiar borderlands.

For this to happen I intend to start applying for funding towards this European Border trip through the Scottish Arts Council and Glasgow City Council, and to gain match funding through sponsorship in kind. I also need to find out more information about possible European funding. This will also entail securing venues for showing the finished work.

New video stills

I am very drawn to some of the stills I have been making from the footage I got from Peter Heathwood. Here are som that I am working with.

Sound equipment for the Final show

The final MA installation will have two sound tracks. One more general one which will provide an overall feeling for the space and another “directional” one providing detailed sound, mainly consisting of voice. The general soundtrack will be laid down on the same DVD as one of the side screens or potentially both side screen (If both I will use mixer pictured below to combine tracks to one set of speakers). The sound from the DVD/DVD’s will then be sent to an amplifier linked to two small Warfdale speakers, like the one pictured below. The second “directional” soundtrack will be laid down on the centre screen DVD and will be sent via an amplifier to one directional speaker if it’s to be suspended from the ceiling, or two directional speakers if they are wall mounted. I’m still not sure if the directional speaker will be like the one described in an earlier blog, totally self constructed, or an already manufactured small speaker/speaker set, made directional through an extra self constructed cone attachment. If it was a small computer speaker it would already contain an amplifier, negating the need for an additional larger amplifier, and therefore power. I am wary of the vulnerability of equipment to theft during exhibitions, so ways of minimising the amount used or its cost without compromising the work are appealing.

LCD screens for final show.

For my MA show installation I will use the 3 LCD screens pictured below. Periodically over the last six months I have researched into buying LCD screens of various sizes. It is possible to get very beautiful unfinished screens that already have an AV input, and only a very thin metal surround to the actual screen. The problem being when I priced these sorts of screens at the desired size they where somewhere between £300-£400 each. So x3 for my show would make it £900-£1200, an amount I can’t afford! So began an exhaustive search on the web for cheap screens with a small surround, at a good price. Eventually I stumbled upon a company called Allcam “world of portables” based in Nottingham. They supplied me with the below 202x 154 Lilliput screens for £88.10 each. They even come with a remote control and wall bracket! I did think of removing their plastic surround, but decided against this and may use matt surfaced gaffer tape to cover up the silver plastic surround during the show.

starting work on first archival footage

I have just started working with the first instalment of footage from Peter Heathwood. I have worked my way through the first 6 hours of footage recording relevant clips to mini DV tape and the digitising into my laptop. I have also created contact sheets of one image per video clip to act as a visual reminder of the clips that I have selected, allowing me to plan for my final installation edit, and also still images that I might want to create and print. Below are four out of the eleven I have so far created. One clip that I first encountered through the BBC on this day section of their web site, where a man in Derry in 1972(the year I was born, and only one month from my birthday) leads a group of people holding a dying young man shot by scared, young, British troops. This man walks ahead of the other five people, waving a blood stained white hanky at the British troops that they have to walk through to get the casualty to hospital. I think this man cut out from his surrounding could be a major visual element in my final installation.

final show rethink

I have changed my idea about the final show layout. I have now decided to construct a small enclosed space so as to minimise sound polution into the rest of the exhibition space (it will have roof). This will also create the intimate relationship with the screens and footage that i have been seeking. I have also decided to make the screens smaller as I think the footage suits the intensity that these provide. For more details see diagramatic plan and equipment list below. I still intent do show some still images on the exterior walls of the installation.

Final artist statement

Stephen Jackson: Artist statement 14/06/06


From growing up in Northern Ireland, I have always been interested in and acutely aware of political and personal landscape and territory, and of the fixed, polarised positions people tend to publicly adopt within areas of conflict. I am interested in how people position themselves and cope, both within geographical areas affected by conflict, and within their own emotional landscapes.

In my youth, BBC Northern Ireland and Ulster Television news were of great importance and never missed in our house. Looking back it seems that these news reports were as much a ritual as our evening family meals. They kept my parents, and by default me, up to date with the daily violence and political struggle within our small country, becoming a soundtrack to my childhood. As passive witnesses, their images strongly informed our collective memory.


Video/sound work

In Dance, a 3 screen video and sound installation, I decided to work directly with footage that had been broadcast in Northern Ireland over the course of the troubles. Within the central footage, I have removed actions from their original context, extracting human figures from their surroundings and re-animating them within more neutral digital spaces. This releases figures from specific times and spaces to perform a kind of melancholic dance. The extracted figures have been thrown out of focus just enough to avoid categorization by the viewer, suggesting a more universal experience of people caught up within conflict and changing territories, touching on ideas of dislocation, loss, willpower, strength and shared experience. I want these figures to convey a sense of searching for understanding or meaning. I also think of this blurring as symbolising a beginning of forgetting, of fading memory. I want to consider this idea of loss of memory as new beginning, specifically in relation to the notion put forward by Susan Sontag In her book “Regarding The Pain Of Others”. Sontag wrote:

“The belief that remembering is an ethical act is deep in our natures as humans. Heartlessness and amnesia seem to go together. But history gives contradictory signals about the value of remembering in the much longer span of collective history. There is simply too much injustice in the world. And too much remembering (of ancient grievances: Serbs, Irish) embitters. To make peace is to forget. To reconcile, it is necessary that memory be faulty and limited”.


The soundtrack to Dance is also partly constructed from archived material as well as newly recorded material (mainly voice and often abstracted) and computer generated, abstract soundscapes. The soundtrack acts as a kind of lens, with an ebb and flow of focus. Adding focus at points, hinting at possible narratives, then receding back towards a more abstract state, drifting, giving the viewer only brief lucid moments. This work has a sense of time slowing - an opening up of space, of being meditative, melancholic. I have been very inspired in the past by the sense of time and space that exists within the video works of Bill Viola and in films by Andre Tarkovsky.



Photographic work

The series of prints entitled 100m are semi abstract photographic squares. Each square is made up of 100 x 1cm x 100cm linear photographic images, laid in thin strips beside one another. Each discrete 1cm x 100cm section is a direct digital photograph of a 1m section of Northern Irish/Irish border, each work being a representation of a continuous 100m line of that border. These composite photographs are captured at 1:1 scale, reminiscent of the Boyle Family’s ongoing series of works entitled Journey to the Surface of the Earth, in which they democratically select a location by throwing darts at a map, then represent it as accurately as possible and on the same scale. When viewed from a distance my 100m works appear as abstract squares. As you approach the fact that they are made up of strips of images becomes more apparent, and when viewed up close it is possible to see the detail of the photographed landscape. They refer to scanning lines, of sampling and surveying landscapes, and to surveillance. I have chosen to present them in a group, as I think their richness emerges through multiples.

Final show plan

I have changed my ideas about the final show plan. This has been sparked after finding out about limitations on what we can do with the college space at Camberwell. My last proposal was for a five screen setup where the screens faced inward and formed five sides of a hexigon, with the sixth side left empty to allow entrance to the centre of the installation. Previous plan:



The problem with this setup was that the college does not allow work to be hung from the ceiling. This is what I had intended to do, with the video inputs also running along and from the ceiling. As a way round this I thought that I could run cables from wall to wall and then hang the screens and cables from this structure, but this would end up being too contrived and fussy. So to this end my latest proposal is to place the screens upon the floor tilted slightly upwards. With still images on the walls above. Obviously this has health and safety implications of its own, due to the cables (power/AV) needing to run across the floor, and indeed the screens themselves creating potential trip hazards. I will have to figure out a way to make this safe, potentially constructing a slight raised platform to run the cables under. All to be resolved :-) New rough plan:

Latest kite video footage

Below is the most recent footage from DV video I have been shooting from my Rokkau kite. This was shot at the very top of Ireland, its most northerly point, Malin head. Its actually at a point just on the east side of the main point, as the elivation of that location put me in the position of higher wind strength which, due to the size of my kite and blustery conditions had me at one point getting dragged along the ground toward a cliff edge, luckily the wind dropped for a moment when I was about 3 metres from the edge, allowing me to gain a footing and avoiding the enevitable decision to let go of the kite, camera harness (both which I hand made at some considerable effort) and the £200 mini DV cam that was attached. There where two Australian tourists at hand to witness the scene, and who came running to my rescue. I think they thought I was a complete nut!

Anyway the footage that I eventually got of the substantial waves crashing into the rocky shoreline was great. I envisage using this in my final show installation as a counterpoint to some of the other Northern Ireland archive footage.

Reflection on finding archive footage to work with.

Through the initial process of gaining access to archival footage I had become very fustrated, through the fact that I couldn’t just get the small bit of footage that I required. It did add an extra complication that I really needed to see the footage before I could tell if it was appropriate to use, so specific where the type of actions that I wanted the figures within the footage to be undergoing. I tried through the British Film Institute, The ITN / British Pathe archive which also has downloadable clips. I did download one sequence but the compression on the clip made it inappropriate, through the difficulty of deciphering where the edges of the figure where, which inhibited good selection in photoshop. I also tried the BBC archives, but their system for identifying the correct footage for a given project made it inappropriate for my needs, not to mention how expensive the researchers suggested it would be. These institutions aren’t really geared up for the type of requests and budget that is available to a singular artist without substantial funding. At this point I was also thinking I needed at least mini dv quality. The BBC “On This Day” section of their website is great for viewing archival material and audio for the chosen date, but is only available to view online. They have also recently launched the BBC “Motion Gallery”, which is a searchable database of content from their archives. But strangely there are more sports footage clips for Northern Ireland in this section than ones dealing with issues arising through the troubles, I guess they are trying to put a nice spin on the country, or something.
The fact of the matter is that finding Peter Heathwood”s personal archive was a breakthrough, late in my MA project as it was. I had never considered anybody would have created such an in depth collection, the sort that I wished I had created. This was made even better when I realised Peter was very eager to share and help with my search for the right footage, reminding me that there is often such good will among individuals to help others. The key is improving ways of finding individuals as willing to help as Peter:-)

Archive footage me-Peter Heathwood 7

Thanks Peter, the other disks arrived nice and safely. Thanks again
for all your help. Some great footage on the first three disks.
Starting to look at the remaining three tonight.
Many thanks for all the extra attention you have given to my project and your input in the selection of footage, it has been very much appreciated!
Stephen.

Archive footage Peter Heathwood-me 6

Hi Stephen, just letting you know I received your donation, thanks very much
for that, also today ( sat ) I posted the last 3 dvds to the same Glasgow
address, containing the rest of your list . Drop me an e-mail just to let me
know they arrive safely. If you need more footage just let me know.
Thanks again for your support, and good luck with the editing.
Peter.

( enclosed with the last DVD was A very nice letter from peter explaining what he had recorded on the final disks)

Archive footage me-Peter Heathwood 6

Hi Peter. The disks arrived this morning. Cheque is on its way. just
had quick look and disks seem good. I’ll start work this evening,
many thanks,
Stephen

U2 project and blue screen tests.

At one point last year I had considered using myself and actors to study figures within archive conflict footage, then rehearse and act out for the camera in front of a green screen setup. This would then enable me to simply key out the background leaving the actors. This was appealing for a while but it occurred to me strongly that it was import and for the figures to come from actual broadcast material from my youth, that same material that helped form my ideas of the country I inhabited. This was also driven by a submission I sent of to One.Zero to try and be chosen to supply some of the footage to be displayed on giant pixel screens for the last U2 tour. My work was selected which left me in a bit of a dialema as they where very sticky about copy write clearance on any material they used. So after some phone calls to various archives I realised the substantial cost of buying footage for such a commercial application. One. Zero did not have any budget for purchase of material or even payment to any of the artists supplying their work, so this is where the initial idea of chroma keying came from. The tests proved somewhat successful, but the lighting was hard to get just right in the size of the photographic studio I had access to (8 x 5m), not to mention having enough room to perform the running sequence that I intended to film. This meant I would need to gain access to a large studio or an old industrial type space that I could paint, and then light in the required manner-diffuse tungsten, light with rear lights having slightly yellow gells inserted to create clean keying round the figures. With the hand in deadline approaching it became apparent to me that the amount of energy that I was starting to put into a project for a rich rock group, that provided me with no payment or working budget, and was starting to divert my attention away from my ma studies was really getting to not be worth it. So I wrote a in depth letter explaining this and that I wanted to withdraw from the project. The relief that came with this decision was fantastic. I had gained another lesson in spreading myself too thin.

Some of my blue screen tests keyed onto a new background:

Archive footage Peter Heathwood-me 5

Hi Stephen, just letting you know I posted 3 dvds to you today ( wed ) to
the Glasgow address you sent me, will you e-mail me when you receive them, I
will mail the next batch when I receive your donation, don’t worry I will
get them all to you very quickly.
Bye for now,
Peter.

A quick thought/comment on vision/seeing

Quite often I get moments where I feel removed from my immediate environment through the process of seeing, where it can also feel as “unreal” as a virtual environment. Maybe reality, and a connection with it comes from the state of mind that the viewer is in. At these moments I think of my eyes as being similar to a video camera: lense, ccd chip, recorder (memory). That is, I’m more conscious of the mechanisms of seeing, of the very human tissue, that enables this process.



Bill Viola was once given a large collection of already used audio tapes. He decided to record constantly untill the tapes ran out. Excited by the idea he fathfully started to record his life. After some days of this the futility of his quest dawned on him. He extrapolated his experiment and realised that if he made an audio recording of his entire life he would have to stop half way through just to listen to the first half. With this thought he pressed the stop button. I find this a interesting idea when applied to vision and an ideas of information in a virtual age.

Archive footage me-Peter Heathwood 5

This sounds good Peter. I will use my work address as it is more
reliable for post.

xxxxxxxx
xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx
Glasgow
xxxxxxx

I will send a cheque for £100 to cover 6 dvd's. Would it be OK to get
the first 2 sent as soon as they are ready , I'll send the cheque
today but by the sounds of it you will have the dvd's ready before it
reaches you. I might have to limit the list further as I have about
£600 to spend on equipment for my show as well. Also Is it ok with you
to record only the most archive rich "Bloody Sunday" documentary of
the 3.

Many Thanks,
Stephen

Archive footage Peter Heathwood-me 4

Hi Stephen, I got your list and have been looking through it, may I propose I begin with the first section; entitled Archive footage, then move on to the news clips, then lastly those you want for sound, it may prove possible you could get the sound you require from the first 2 sections, thus saving you some money.On the question of cost, as I may have mentioned before our aim is not to raise money for the sake of the money but to raise funds for our conversion project. With that said I have no intention of over charging you, but we have to ask for donations that make it worth our time. Our guideline figure is £10 per hour recorded, that makes a 2 hour disc cost £20, however it often turns out a disc containing 2 docus will be under 2 hours so I would propose that to balance that out I will make 6 x 2 hours discs for the cost of 5 , i.e. £100.and we will cover the postage and packing costs. In practice that means if you send me a £100 cheque, I will send you 6 x 2 hour dvds, then we can repeat the process for the next 6 and you can amend your list choices as we work through your list. I can have the first 2 dvds ready to go on tues/wed, if this scheme is acceptable, but I need an address to send them to, so perhaps you could e-mail me that. I await your reply,
Peter.

Archive footage me-Peter Heathwood4

Hi Peter. I have had a good trawl through your collection and have
come with the following tapes (see attached word files). Hope this
doesn't seem like too much (there are so many interesting
programmes!). In a few cases, like Bloody Sunday footage, I have left
it up to you to choose the one that has the most archival footage of
the event. If this will all take some time to do, would it be possible
to send the 2 most archivaly intensive dvd's soon so that I can get
started with editing (I will of course cover the postage as well). A
rough Idea of how much this would all cost would be great as I'm
working to a budget and if it's too much I could drop a few from the
list.

Again many thanks for your ongoing help, its very much appreciated,
Stephen.



WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR IN THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMMES IS ARCHIVE FOOTAGE SO IF THERE ARE ANY ON THE LIST THAT ONLY CONTAIN SMALL AMOUNTS JUST LEAVE THEM OUT.





Series Title:
Panorama:
Programme Title:
The Violent Days of Ulster
Description:
A day by day look at the outbreak of 'the Troubles' using newsreel footage of the time. Also interviews with I.Paisley, J.Hume, and R.Bradford.
Type of Programme:
Current Affairs
Broadcast Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Channel:
BBC1
Date Broadcast:
Thu 21st Aug 1969
Duration: minutes
50 mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
89A
Country of Origin:
England






Peter, just one of the following. whichever of these Bloody Sunday documentaries has the most archive footage.

Series Title:
Inside Story:
Programme Title:
Remember Bloody Sunday
Description:
The events of 'Bloody Sunday', 30 January 1972.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Channel:
BBC1
Date Broadcast:
Mon 28th Jan 1991
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
104
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland



Series Title:
Programme Title:
Bloody Sunday: The Secret History
Description:
The events of 'Bloody Sunday', 30 January 1972.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
Channel 4
Channel:
CH4
Date Broadcast:
Sat 21st Dec 1991
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
103
Country of Origin:
England


Series Title:

Series Title:
Programme Title:
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Description:
Events of 'Bloody Sunday', 30 January 1972.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
Channel 4
Channel:
CH4
Date Broadcast:
Thu 30th Jan 1997
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
134
Country of Origin:



Series Title:
Programme Title:
The Battle Of The Bogside
Description:
Profile of the events in Derry during August 1969 when the present Troubles exploded into violence; extensive use of contemporary film clips with comments from Eamon Melaugh of the Derry Civil Rights Association, also Dr. Raymond McClean, Ivan Cooper, Neil McCaffery, Eamonn McCann, Martin McGuinness, and others including Gregory Campbell (DUP) and Ivan Duncan a former RUC officer.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Channel:
BBC4
Date Broadcast:
Wed 24th Mar 2004
Duration: minutes
58 mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
287






Series Title:
Ireland: A Television History
Programme Title:
(Part 12): Six Counties.
Description:
Robert Kee's History of Ireland
Type of Programme:
History
Broadcast Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Channel:
BBC2
Date Broadcast:
Tue 17th Feb 1981
Duration: minutes
50 mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
5
Country of Origin:
England




Series Title:
Programme Title:
Irish Ways:
Description:
Pro-Republican film of events in Northern Ireland with IRA patrols, funerals, and SF councillor. Interviews Republican prisoners on their struggle.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
not broadcast
Channel:
Independent
Date Broadcast:
Sun 1st Jan 1989
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
224


Series Title:
Understanding Northern Ireland (Part 1):
Programme Title:
Understanding Northern Ireland (Part 1):
Description:
Archive film history of Northern Ireland.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
?
Channel:
?
Date Broadcast:
Mon 7th Mar 1994
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
116
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland




Series Title:
Understanding Northern Ireland (Part 2):
Programme Title:
Understanding Northern Ireland (Part 2):
Description:
Ian Paisley and John Hume give different analysis.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
?
Channel:
?
Date Broadcast:
Mon 14th Mar 1994
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
117
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland






Series Title:
Programme Title:
We Shall Overcome
Description:
Nick Ross, a BBC reporter, recalls his days in Belfast and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement; with archive footage.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Channel:
BBC1
Date Broadcast:
Sun 4th Oct 1998
Duration: minutes
47 mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
161A
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland

Series Title:
Programme Title:
Window on the world (Part 1):
Description:
Programme examines the development of news broadcasts in Northern Ireland since the 1950s. With archive film clips and interviews with politicians; the media's handling of the violence is examined and discussed.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Channel:
BBC1
Date Broadcast:
Wed 26th Feb 2003
Duration: minutes
28 mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
259
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland


WITH THESE CLIPS I’M ONLY LOOKING FOR FOOTAGE FROM THE DAY.




News reports.

Programme Title:
News Reports
Description:
Ballykelly Massacre 17 Dead.
Type of Programme:
News
Broadcast Company:
?
Channel:
?
Date Broadcast:
Tue 7th Dec 1982
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
36
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland


Series Title:
Programme Title:
News Reports
Description:
Thirty-two IRA prisoners escape from the Maze Prison. (Extended news reports.)
Type of Programme:
News
Broadcast Company:
?
Channel:
?
Date Broadcast:
Sun 25th Sep 1983
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
51
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland



Series Title:
Programme Title:
News Report
Description:
The SAS kill eight PIRA members in an ambush at Loughgall RUC Station. (Extended news report.)
Type of Programme:
News
Broadcast Company:
?
Channel:
?
Date Broadcast:
Sat 9th May 1987
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
82
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland

Series Title:
Programme Title:
News Report
Description:
Eleven killed by PIRA bomb at Enniskillen Remberance Sunday. (Extended news report.)
Type of Programme:
News
Broadcast Company:
?
Channel:
?
Date Broadcast:
Sun 8th Nov 1987
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:



Peter only if this contains archive footage of the day

Panorama:
Programme Title:
Andersonstown Soldiers Killings
Description:
Two British soldiers beaten and shot at PIRA funeral in Belfast.
Type of Programme:
Current Affairs
Broadcast Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Channel:
BBC1
Date Broadcast:
Sun 1st May 1988
Duration: minutes
? mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
88
Country of Origin:
England


I INTEND TO ONLY USE SOME SOUND FROM THE FOLLOWING



For sound

An American documentary, made in black and white, which explores 'the Troubles' through interviews with local people.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
?
Channel:
?
Date Broadcast:
Tue 1st Jan 1974
Duration: minutes
41 mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
279B
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland




Series Title:
Programme Title:
25 Bloody Years:
Description:
Peter Taylor's review of 'the Troubles' to date including interviews he recorded at major events from Bloody Sunday to date. (Opening 5 mins missing.)
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
Channel 4
Channel:
CH4
Date Broadcast:
Mon 1st Aug 1994
Duration: minutes
47 mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
119A
Country of Origin:
England



Programme Title:
A Soldier's Tale:
Description:
Documentary by Peter Taylor; British soldiers of all ranks give open and candid interviews on their experience of serving in Northern Ireland.
Type of Programme:
Documentary
Broadcast Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Channel:
BBC2
Date Broadcast:
Mon 1st Aug 1994
Duration: minutes
52 mins
DVD Number:
Tape Number:
161A
Country of Origin:
Northern Ireland

Large scale printed video stills.

I’ve been thinking about how at the start of my MA proposal I had video stills that I was attracted to as photographic printed stills and not necessarily video footage. The delay in getting access to archive video footage has turned my attention to this again, as I need to consider the implications for my project of not receiving footage on time to cut out, and re-animate as many clips as I would like, as this is a very laborious and long winded task.
With the video stills I was always drawn to the strength of the images I had selected to cut out. They reminded me of the Russian constructivist Alexander Rodchenko’s images of the city, and of some images from the Dziga Vertov’s “man with a movie camera, in that they are quite bold and often contain strong diagonals and compositional elements. To be able to study a single image as a solid print and for a length of time that the viewer controls, allows them to take on a different relationship with the viewer, and one that has a more direct physical resonance to the viewer. With this in mind I plan to reignite my work with video stills as soon as I get access to footage, as well as embark on the cutting out and re animation of figures.

Archive footage Peter Heathwood-me 3

Hi Stephen.

On the question of my being able to accommodate a visit to sort out the precise clips you require, unfortunately my position is still as it was, the
best I can offer you are to send you copies ,in pal tape or dvd, of docus.
that you select from the archive which should contain the film you need.
This way you can edit out yourself what you need.
Looking through your list you will have no difficulty finding what you need.
May I suggest you look at the listing for tapes?
287,288,271A/B,281,305,306,321,12,103,104,116,134,124,143,160,198,200,
204,20 5,212, 247,255,119A, 161A, 89A, 256A 325A, 71,86,98,253A,
There are probably others, also remember for any event after May 5th 1981 I
will also have the daily news bulletins. I figure to sit here skimming
through all the above and probably more wouldn’t be possible in just 1
afternoon and I couldn’t guarantee you I would have the time you would need. Sorry but I will sent you docus you need.
Peter Heathwood

Archive footage me-Peter Heathwood 3a+b

Ok, thanks Peter. I'll get the final list to you after the weekend. I
knew such short notice would be a long shot, so no problem.

Thanks again,
Stephen



Hi Peter. If you are willing I would still very much like your help with
obtaining footage. I have been compiling a list of events that I wish
to use footage from (will complete tomorrow and forward to you).

As I mentioned before the only problem is that I only need 5-6 seconds
of footage from each of the 25-30 events, but the particulars of the
action within each 5-6 seconds is very important, as it is people's
small gestures that I wish to isolate from the footage to work with.
Given that time is short before I have to have my finished work in London I feel the most efficient way at this point would be for me to forward my list to you and then make a visit where I could look through tapes you had selected from my list. I
would be more than happy to pay £10 toward your re-archiving fund for
each hour that I was using your collection. I understand that this is asking a lot and will fully understand if you feel a visit to your collection is not appropriate. If on the other hand you were ok with this proposal, it would be incredibly
helpful if it were possible to do very soon (possibly this weekend or
within the next week, even evenings if that would suit). I can be very
flexible around your time and would be ready to catch a ferry at a
moments notice. Your continuing help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Stephen Jackson

PS.
Here is a preliminary List to give you more of an idea of the types of tapes I’m looking for. A lot of this initial list pre dates the start of your 1981-collection of news footage so I suppose would have to come from your documentary collection. It is not essential that I have footage from every date on the list, it primarily functions as a starting point to finding good 6 second clips. I would be able to forward wind quite quickly through the footage to find appropriate short sections.


Civil Rights Campaign (1964 to 1972)

Internment (1971 to 1975)

Ulster Workers' Council Strike (1974)

Hunger Strike (1981)

Start of peace Process (1993)

Derry March (5 October 1968);

People's Democracy March (1 January 1969 to 4 January 1969);

Deployment of British Troops (14 August 1969);

'Bloody Sunday' (30 January 1972);

Introduction of Direct Rule (30 March 1972);

'Bloody Friday' (21 July 1972);

Sunningdale Agreement (6 December 1973 to 9 December 1973);

Dublin and Monaghan bombs (17 May 1974);

IRA Truce (9 February 1975 to 23 January 1976);

Constitutional Convention (8 May 1975 to 5 March 1976);

United Unionist Action Council (UUAC) Strike (3 May 1977 to 13 May 1977);

Anglo-Irish Agreement (15 November 1985);

Omagh Bomb (15 August 1998).

Installation audio track: Border Names

As part of the audio track for my final installation I have recorded readings of a list of place names from around the Irish border . This list starts at the northern most point and continues along the length of the border in the same direction as I travelled in summer 2005. What is striking about the place names when listed in this fashion is the toing and froing between Irish/Gaelic sounding place names and very Anglified place names. Also the frequency of re occurring place name, in particular the name County Bridge, it seams to me that there is more than one County Bridge in each county. I want to use this audio track to reinforce a sense of place and rhythm within the work. One that will ebb and flow along the duration of the looped work. I am starting to think that the audio and indeed video could be on different looping times with each eliment of the installation, so as to constantly change the work, throwing up different combinations with each viewing reducing the feeling of repetition. Always in a state of change.

Archive footage Peter Heathwood-me 2

Hi Stephen, Sorry about this weekend, I have my family visiting and
Wouldn’t be able to fit your visit in. If you send me the list of events it
is you are interested in, perhaps I could record several minutes each side
of the particular clip you want on dvd, could you not them extract the piece
you want onto your mini dv from that ?
Anyhow first step I think is for you to send me exactly which incidents you
are interested in.
Peter Heathwood

Archive footage me-Peter Heathwood 2

Hi Peter. Thanks for getting back so soon. Its great that you are
updating the archive to DVD.

I am very happy with the idea of contributing to your conservation
fund. I guess that the thing for me is that the exact 5 second clips
that I choose are very important, peoples gestures and body movements
are key to the clips that I would choose to work with. There are also
some other factors that make the footage either easier or harder to
work with later, amount of movement within images, contrast etc.

What would be ideal for me is that I could email you a list of events
from the troubles which are of interest to me making it possible for
you to select the tapes from your archive that you think would be most
appropriate. Then at an convienient time I could come and record the 5
second clips from the tapes that I find of greatest interest to my
research and project. I need to record the clips onto MINI dv which is
equipment that I could bring. I have always know that I would need a
budget to get footage and had the thought that I could contribute so
much per hour of taking up your time while I reviewed and recorded the
footage.

I hope this sugestion isn't asking too much, its just that I find the
idea of your archive very exciting. Its the kind of resource I have
been wishing to find since starting my MA course.

If this idea is agreeable I will be coming to NI on sat morning and
staying untill tue dinner time. I am by no way assuming this will be
an appropriate time for you and if needed we could arrange another
time, its just that It would be great for me to obtain footage sooner
rather than later as I don't have very long to finish my research and
produce the final work for the final exhibition.

Any way, thank you very much for taking the time to correspond,

many thanks,

Stephen

Wave exhibition

Wave exhibition

I have submitted work for the Wave show organised through Camberwell College of Art. The work for this show was to be A2 format. This created a slight problem for me as I wanted to use my new 100 metres work which by its origonal design was meant to be 100 1x 100 cm strips joined together, resulting in a 1 x 1 metre composite photographic image (see Sunday, April 02, 2006 blog). I tried to think of ways to re-negotiate the work and was thinking of folding the 1 meter photographic print into various A2 shapes like an A2 cube, but all the solutions I came up with seemed to be forcing the work into a compromised form just for the sake of conforming to the format of the exhibition. Then I started to think of how important maps have been to the making of my work, and my experience of the landscapes that I have traveled through. I started to think of the different scales of map, 1:25000, 1:50000 and so on, and the adjustment in perception that takes place as you view various different scaled maps in quick succession. I started to get drawn to the idea of scaling down my 100 metre image into an A2, and to place text at the bottom referencing the location and new scale (to the origonal work) of the 100metre strip that I had “Photographically surveyed”. This had the effect of grounding the work much more in a sense of location, which appealed to me as the show is to have its second venue in Korea and needed a stronger way to communicate an idea of place. This act of having to reconsider the work enabled me to approach it from a different angle and I feel has made it stronger, as no matter where else I show it I will now include the new text.





100 metres.

The series of prints entitled 100m are semi abstract photographic squares. Each square is made up of 100 x 1cm x 100cm linear photographic images, laid in thin strips beside one another. Each discrete 1cm x 100cm section is a direct digital photograph of a 1m section of Northern Irish/Irish border, each work being a representation of a continuous 100m line of that border. These composite photographs are captured at 1:1 scale, reminiscent of the Boyle Family’s ongoing series of works entitled Journey to the Surface of the Earth, in which they democratically select a location by throwing darts at a map, then represent it as accurately as possible and on the same scale. When viewed from a distance my 100m works appear as abstract squares. As you approach the fact that they are made up of strips of images becomes more apparent, and when viewed up close it is possible to see the detail of the photographed landscape. They refer to scanning lines, of sampling and surveying landscapes, and to surveillance. I have chosen to present them in a group, as I think their richness emerges through multiples.

Translations by Brian Friel

Recently I have been reading Brian Friels book translations. Friel was born 9 January 1929, Catholic, in Omagh, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, He is one of Ireland's most prominent playwrights. In addition to his published plays, he has written short stories; screenplays; film, TV and Radio adaptations of his plays; and several pieces of non-fiction on the role of theatre and the artist. His play translations was recommended to me during a conversation I was having with a college who was interested in hearing about my MA project. This is a review by Charolotte Bradford:


This play is set in 1833, at a hedge school in the village of Baile Beag in Ireland. At this time the English army had begun to arrive in order make maps of Ireland and change the place names from Gaelic to English supposedly in order to be able to work out 'what is yours in law', really the main purpose of the new place names and the maps is so the English can work out where everywhere is in case of a war and 'for purposes of more equitable taxation'.

The play centres around several main themes: language and power, language and identity, progress and stagnation, love, past and mythology and personal versus political. Each of these themes is cleverly intertwined in the plot creating a stunning short play full of strong characters, themes and 'food for thought' for the audience.

The play is split up into three acts set over about a week in the Irish community, each of these acts gets shorter as you go along, signifying the speed of destruction or change caused by the English presence.

'Translations' is full of strong characters and each of the characters personalities and appearances hold an underlying meaning as to their situation in life. For example Manus, a monitor at the hedge school is dressed shabbily, he is pale faced and lightly built, he is also lame, Manus' appearance appears to signify the supposed appearance of the Irish, the fact he is lame signifies the disabilities of the Irish. His brother Owen who has gone to live in England and returns in order to act as translator for the army is dressed smartly, he is described as having a charming and easy manner supposedly he is like this because he has been away from the stagnant village of Baile Beag.

Baile Beag is torn between two different ideologies, the first that it should remain Baile Beag and not have its name changed, where people should be taught how to read and write in gaelic, this view is held by the older members of the community however most of the younger members would rather they were taught English as they see it as an escape route from the village. The building of the new National School is a very strong theme and presence throughout the play, teaching only English not only would this stop the continuation of the Gaelic language but also it would keep the scholars at the hedge school from education as they are too old. The National School was used as a ploy by the English to keep out indegenous people. This provides the message that Gaelic will leave you behind as English is the language of commerece and a way of escapism.

As Friel well knows, many things are lost in translation, some irrevocably. He also understands that to hold onto the past can be self-destructive. "To remember everything is a form of madness,'' says Jimmy Jack, the local literary scholar fluent in Latin, Greek and Gaelic. As Maire, who dreams of going to America, pragmatically sees it, "The old language is a barrier to progress."

As the plot unfolds this play becomes more and more gripping and intense, engaging the audience in the unfair way that the Gaelic language was filtered out almost completely. However there are a lot more interlinking themes which are just as captivating with eventual dire consequences. The play also contains several strong morals in it.

The Free Sound Project

While looking for some sound for my video installation soundtrack I came across this site. Its search functions are fantastic and the sounds are generally of high quality. This is a nice project which was started in the context of ICMC 2005 (international computer music conference of Barcelona), and is a website for creative-commons licensed audio material exchange. It’s the Flickr for sound samples.



The Freesound Project

The Freesound Project is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds. Freesound focuses only on sound, not songs.
The Freesound Project aims to create a huge collaborative database of audio snippets, samples, recordings, bleeps, ... released under the Creative Commons Sampling Plus License. The Freesound Project provides new and interesting ways of accessing these samples, allowing users to:

• browse the sounds in new ways using keywords, a "sounds-like" type of browsing and more
• up and download sounds to and from the database, under the same creative commons license
• interact with fellow sound-artists!

We also aim to create an open database of sounds that can also be used for scientific research. Many audio research institutions have trouble finding correctly licensed audio to test their algorithms. Many have voiced this problem, but so far there hasn't been a solution.


URL: http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/index.php

Archive footage Peter Heathwood-me 1

Hi Stephen, I have no objection to helping you out on the film clips , I was a student once and know of those pressures.
At present I am converting all the archive from tape to DVD , this is proving costly, so at present I am allowing members of the public to order copies of any docu. they want in return for a donation to my Conversion Fund. Usually I ask £10 per hour recorded, plurs postage and packing, so I could proably do your 30 by 5 seconds clips within an hour, I think.
Although its not listed on cain yet I do have coverage of all the news reports from May 7th 1981 on tape as well, I am thinking if you send me the 30 incidents you need I could proably find them in the news bullitins quicker than the longer docus.Anyway send me your list to pheathwood@utvinternet.com and I will have a better idea of whats possible .

Peter Heathwood

Archive Footage, me-Peter Heathwood 1

Email: phstevejackson@googlemail.com



Hello. My name is Stephen Jackson and I am contacting you regarding
your collection of recorded television programes which I found out
about through the CAIN website.
I work at the Glasgow School of Art (I am originaly from NI) and am
also Studying a part time MA in digital arts with Camberwell college
of art in London which I will complete in July. As part of my MA I am
working with archival footage of NI which has been broadcast over the
period of the troubles. After researching archive sources I realised I
don't have anywhere near the budget required to access this through
the BBC or Pathe archives, even though I only need about 30 4 second
clips. I understand that your collection is a private one but was
wondering if there is any way we could come to an arrangement where I
could record some(30 ish) short 4-5 second clips from key NI events
from the footage you have recorded over the years. Your help in this
mater would be very much appreciated as I have come to a bit of a dead
end in regards to other channels and at this point in my MA studies I
should already have archival footage and be working with it. Your help
in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Stephen Jackson

Ps. If you are agreeable to this idea I will be in Northern Ireland
over this weekend making photographic works around the Northern
Ireland border and visiting family in Lisburn. I have attached my MA
proposal to read if you want more background on my project.

Border Travels and Perception

Last summer, I spent four days traveling along the Irish border on a moped. My goal was to visit every point where the border intersects a road, no small task given the sheer number of B and C class roads in the North of Ireland. These border lands were places to avoid when I was young. Regular reports on BBC Northern Ireland spoke of violence among these areas, of hatred between neighbors with differing beliefs, of murders. Border crossing points were heavily fortified by the British army until the peace agreements of the late 1990’s. The complete visual decommissioning of these border checkpoints was part of the peace agreements. I had a desire to navigate these foreboding lands of my youth, to let the landscape wash over me, to become immersed within it. What I found was the changing rhythm of, what for me, was a compelling landscape. I was also nearly always aware of its darker underside, not so visible in these times of “peace”, but still tangible.



This initial visit was meant to be mostly about the experience and research, but as I traveled and made photographs I became interested in the photographic typology of roadsides that was emerging. This has become a new strand of current work that is running parallel to my main MA project, each strand informing the other from very different perspectives. I am not sure at present what bearing this will have on my final show.



Before I embarked on the trip and also during, I thought I had some idea of how the landscape would look. This was informed through memories of previous trips in northern Ireland and perceived ideas from the television report of my youth, and of course the maps that I had been studying as I traced the route of the border, discovering all the points where it intersected a public roads, the grey veins of a nations life. Because of the slowness of travel and the fact that I was only there to obsorbe the landscape I found that It rarely tallied with my initial picture I had in my head. I was constantly being surprised and reminded to stay visually alert to the unfolding landscape.