BELOVED
Fierce Festival 10 (May 26, 27, 28th of 2007)
Compton Verney Gallery

KINDER

MEMORY THEATRE (aka Super 8)

BELOVED NOTES
Nicole told me that the Fierce Festival was having her again
and I immediately asked, "Do you need an assistant?"
I was half kidding but she was dead serious and said, "yes".
She needed a filmmaker and a doppelganger.
For Nicole, anything.

The Compton Verney gallery emerges from an 18th century mansion (11th century estate),
about an hour out of Birmingham, England. After the phone call, she went
on to conjure a 14 station journey for an audience of "1". This meant
that even if you came with friends, you would be ushered through the
installation by yourself.

The goal was for BELOVED to become a spring board for catharsis.
invoking memories along the way.

Besides driving on the left side of the road, I am most proud of the videos.

KINDER
set the tone for the journey. The black video begins as you are guided up a
spooky staircase and a seat in the dark. After these contemplative moments,
you are guided toward a bright ballroom where you dance with a charming
partner. And so on.
Frankly, you should really sit in the dark and feel meditative for this one
so be patient with the internet viewing.

MEMORY THEATRE
is the Super 8 film I produced and shot that we were too busy to name.
She had so many stories to choose from, so many kindnesses. This film
of hers is one of the most personal things she's ever written.
So until Nicole whirls off an email with the better name, I will call it
Memory Theatre.

She felt that in telling truths about yourself, you inevitably strike
chords with everyone else. The room with this piece happened to have
a kind of womblike sofa that I invented from unusual sources, and the
combination of comfort and poignancy was lethal to even the hardest
cynic. During the shoot, I couldn't have paid the dog with the stuffed animal
to come straight toward the lens, it was just providence.
This whole project is soaked in luck and beauty.

Click HERE for Fierce TV video of the BELOVED installation and reactions
as well as other Fierce goings on.

I am grateful to Nicole for the opportunity to create these pieces
and to Bernadette Louise for her bravery in navigating exhausted me
through my first thousand West Midlands roundabouts.