Arrests

Creator:

Pictorial Heroes

Contributor(s):

  • Figure - Doug Aubrey

  • This work is part of the rewind archive.

    Duration: 8mins

    Year: 1987

    Original formats:

    3/4" U-Matic Hi Band

    Media types:

    Video

    Type of work:

    Single Screen and as 2 multi-screen installations

    Funding source: Self and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art facilities

    First exhibited: Seagate Gallery, Dundee (as installation)

    Technical details: Installation version 6 channels.

    Firstly, it has become increasingly evident that as you drive into the heart of any urban city, one is always aware of the great hinterlands of desolation on the periphery, tracts of industrial architecture laid to waste and housing schemes decaying as you glance at them. A glance is often all you are afforded as they are usually shielded from view by baffle banks, landscape schemes, curtain walling, embankments, or the inter-weaving complexes of fly-overs, by-passes and junctions. these areas have become the blur zones of our culture, seen from the windows of fast moving vehicles, places where there are no happy endings or cosy storylines.

    Secondly, the aspirational consequences of Britain’s ‘economic miracle’ of the Eighties has meant an increase in the isolationist attitude of those to whom money had flowed. the repercussions of this self-interest are that at the shit end of things, on the schemes and at the DSS, the real effects are felt first, fast and hardest. The reactions to these events are likely to be both desperate and violent.

    Thirdly, the personal experiences of working in certain areas of the media and the dilemmas created by trying to reconcile the true reality with the designer version fostered by the media, has led to the triptych structure of the work.
    1. The Dividing line – exposes and explores through image, style, content and implication, the divisions in experience, ambition and viewpoint.
    2. The Story Line – all the best things have a story line, if you can find them; only today it is as much about the teller than the tale.
    3. The End of the Line – at the point where fact, fiction and fantasy meet there is always going to be a bit of friction…and some trouble finding a happy ending.

    Sourced from Doug Aubrey’s personal archives.

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