Experiencing London through film
An intriguing new exhibition has just opened at 176. Gerry Fox, a documentary film-maker, has created an installation using film to portray a very personal view of London.
I’ve never been satisfied with photographs of London because, for me, London is always moving, always changing. Fox’s movie screens show London in movement – sometimes speeded up, sometimes slowed right down.
He visits a busy Soho street. He climbs around an old, overgrown cemetery. He floats around the figure of Peter Pan as if, like the lost boys, he’s learned how to fly. It’s all reminiscent of a silent movie – an epic film with only scenery and action, but no words, no plot.
And because the films are projected all around you, even on the ceiling, because they slow down and speed up, because of the darkness in the centre of the gallery and the light of the projection screens all around, the experience becomes like a dream. You feel slightly distant, and the city takes on a new identity, so that the film is not just a record of how things are, but an evocation of what they might mean.
It’s an interesting sort of crossover project, as up till now Gerry Fox has been a documentary film-maker – making films about artists. Now, he’s become an artist who uses film.
Definitely worth a visit for anyone who loves London and loves film.
Living London is at 176, Prince of Wales Road, London NW5.
Nearest tube: Chalk Farm. Open Thursday and Friday 11-3, weekends 11-6.
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