Documentation and investigation are the reasoning behind the making of my artworks. The logical process and technical understanding are left invisible when the finished product is completed and the conscious messages is to be portrayed; the ambition is to see if the audience member will experience the same understanding of relationship and interaction when viewing my art. Contemporary Art Practice allows for the portrayal of these messages in a creative manner which suits the decision making behind the work.

“People today who still have time for boredom, and yet are not bored are certainly just as boring as those who never get around to being bored”.[1] An interest toward the contemporary understanding of boredom has continued to develop throughout my practice of film; one which is hopefully articulated and experienced by the audience.

Going to the TATE is well informed by research from the ‘Documents of Contemporary Art: Boredom’ specifically Siegfried Kracauer’s text on Boredom, 1924. The text mentions “… people sit side by side as if their souls were wandering about far away”.[2] This text I find has relevance to the context; begin that, the film presents the viewer with the individual (myself) in a moment of silence and pause. Though surrounded by the busy lives of public and tourists. This hour long documentation captures an instant of quietness in an area noise and allows the audience to experience a moment of nothingness. In the ever growing urban situation that leaves us with little to no leisure time, one has few occasions where doing nothing is an option.

Virtual Reality Headsets and 360° Film are the material choices used to documents my practice I find they create a level of immersion that cannot be found in other material forms; this immersion plays well with that of the imagery I attempt to capture which is rather mundane in its imagery but when paired with the modern solutions of immersion captures the audience member in a moment of escape with zero distractions.

The subject matters across my works do not necessarily link, though the process of decision making informs the works greatly as well as the methods of display; these are where the links between works begin to come into play.

Previous works have been considered a therapeutic experience, though not the intention of my work I welcome the analysis of audience to further develop the understanding of the practice. A lot of research comes from the process of making, the methodology and approach I have towards film making; this is partly to do with the simplicity of the imagery as well as the urban environment of London having an effect on my overall production.

The camera is a major influence in how we take in film and to a certain extent one cannot ignore the life of the camera when filming, people react differently to that of the camera compared to that of the human life. Throughout Going to the TATE the viewer will begin to notice that he/she is looked upon by the public. This contradicts a major objective of the message, which is to go unnoticed; this unexpected factor changes my consideration as to whether I see this film to be of success. As my attempt of physiological immersion is disrupted by a number of factors.

I plan to continue my studies of ‘Documents of Contemporary Art: Boredom’ and focus my attention on the text of Faith Wilding, Waiting, 1971.

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[1] [2] Tom McDonough, Documents of Contemporary Art: Boredom (London: Whitechapel Gallery and The MIT Press, 2017) p. 34 – 37.