Parts of A Whole// A Minute of Sydney
My piece entitled Parts of a Whole// A Minute of Sydney, constructs a portrait of Sydney using a combination of film techniques to showcase its defining attributes
The Clock, A 2010 film by Christian Marclay provided inspiration to seeing my piece completed. The film edits together pieces of film, wherein every moment a clock is in frame; creating a 24-hour time piece for the viewer. The true strength of this piece is that it could be left to its own devices; immortal in structure, invaluable in form. The value of the film is 2-fold; first, as a piece of art it is functional, providing a service as a time piece. Second, it becomes a monument to the cinema that came before it; capturing fragments of classic and modern film unto itself; a time capsule of sorts. This second value points to the technique the clock utilised and what I emulated in my own work: Fragments that build a whole.
My piece, Parts of a Whole// A Minute of Sydney I endeavoured to create a film that too had an immortal quality; the ability to be left to its own devices. The film could be left playing, ever on repeat creating a functional time piece; just as the film that inspired it. With a quick glance, the observer can take note of the time via the white bars that operate as the second hands of a clock. In truth, my piece takes its quality of being a time piece very seriously, as at any point in time every frame can be read as a clock face. The sound of ticking clock was chosen to not only give respect to the film which it drew inspiration, but also allow the film itself in almost any space to become The Clock.
While the Clock serves as a monument to the cinema of the ages, my piece will stand as a monument to Sydney. This was achieved through intense focus on what makes Sydney unique, highlighting the city’s keys features through a minimalistic aesthetic. Filmed in single Steadicam sequence shot, showing naught but atmospheric change and movement, my piece tells the story of an ever moving city. A technique beautifully practiced in Andy Warhols’ 1964 film Empire. The nature of each quadrant as a close-up shot was chosen not to bring any specific location to mind; the film could have been shot in any beach, park or street in Sydney.
Although inspiration saw this film come to life; for which The Clock must be credited, the brief tasked us with illustrating that a space can be described in as many ways as observers exists. To do so, the technique that gives strength to the Mike Figgs 2002 piece: Time Code was utilised. Whereby four frames of simultaneous action play in the same screen that follow different characters. The only difference is, in Parts of a Whole// A Minute of Sydney the characters are The Sand, The Sea, The Green, The City: Sydney’s defining features.
