Movies

DNA POETRY

Tue, 29 May 2007 22:25:13 +0100

A view of one of the two DNA poems (or Double Nexus Acrostic) that I made as part of a short residency at the Centre for Life in Newcastle. The form, a co-creation between Head of Education at Life, Noel Jackson, and me, is attached to a replica of a DNA molecule. The rules are simple, the first word of every (two-word) line must begin or end with A, T, C or G. If it ends with C, its pair word must begin with G; if it ends with G, its pair must begin with C; if with A, then the pair begins wit

The Spennymoor Signs

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:11:55 +0100

I revisited Spennymoor today, to show it to family who were visiting me, and in the wake of the Spennymoor Letters winning the Journal Culture Awards. I’ve made a short movie (18 secs) of one of the name signs, to show how the laser-cut layer of names of Spennymoor people is a mesh through which the word SPENNYMOOR shines out in red. Pause the movie, and see if you can find your name! The music is by Mike Higgins, from an early Come Flying track. See Links page for more information.

Surterranean hmmsic bloopers

Mon, 5 Feb 2007 10:08:52 +0000

Here’s a fun blooper. For the finale of my Blue Note set (see the rest of today’s movies), built around the theme of every new idea I’ve enjoyed in any media over recent weeks, I played a Bob Dylan song from the eighties. I’ve been learning a lot of Dylan since my wife bought me a ukelele a year ago, and been aching to play one in public. I’ve had a number of ideas around adding an extra element, and made this Powerpoint movie, in homage perhaps to the scene from Don’t Look Back clipped as a

Singing Shilpa Texthead

Mon, 5 Feb 2007 09:58:21 +0000

As part of my set for the Blue Note (see other entries from today), I decided to sing my Shilpa Shetty Texthead (see blog and the Guardian newspaper website). I did this as a short break between numbers. The Texthead was printed A2 and framed, and I read whatever caught my eye, bending the notes whenever the text had coloured letters. It’s possible to make out at the end: “plenty of TV, little reality”.

Peaceface Performance

Mon, 5 Feb 2007 09:48:07 +0000

This is one of a few excerpts (made with a camera phone) from my set yesterday at the Blue Note reading series in Newcastle. I decided to work up one of my translations - of Paul Eluard, who liked to write poems printed next to prints and paintings. I’ve reinterpreted the imagery his collaborator used - all of which features a face, a bird and a flower - live. I’m wearing a Buzz Lightyear helmet with a Fresnel Lens (reading sheet) stuck on by me as a visor. And using toy “fairy wings” which ar