3L-PROJECT ARCHIVE

Left, forward

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:05:00 +0000

EXCHANGE exhibition, the university of plymouth, nov '09 — jan '10

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:37:00 +0000

(11/09 - 01/10) Prints from the on-going You Are Your Own Timekeeper enquiry are being exhibited at the University of Plymouth as part of 'EXCHANGE:', a research exchange on approaches and responses to 'landscape' between the University of Plymouth (LAND/SEA research group) and the University of Northampton.

The images document the former chelsea workshops in two states: emptiness (left, middle) and at a hiatus in its renovation by the al-iman society (right). A1 Single colour digital prints in archive inks were chosen over some new plan-copy prints that didn't reproduce consistently enough for the three to work as a sequence... I'm now building quite a collection of rolled A1 plan-copies from this work, that I hope will one day see the light of day.

Commentary: "YOU ARE YOUR OWN TIMEKEEPER considers the landscape of Northampton as a construct, exploring ‘place identity’ of the town through the interactions between a nineteenth-century boot and shoe factory and its inhabitants (or lack of). The activities and processes that have taken place, or are planned to take place within the space, are seen as intrinsic in etching and moulding the landscape of Northampton, with the inquiry placing the building at the meta-geographical centre of the town – a location of activity or non-activity metaphorically representing Northampton through three key phases in its use. First, as a place of industry (1896, as boot and shoe factory manufacturing within a worldwide market). Second, as a place of emptiness and degradation (approx 2000, as vacant production space following the movement of industry away from the factory and part-conversion into ‘luxury’ apartments). Third, and currently, as a place for immigrant populations; a community centre for the Al-Iman Society of Northamptonshire, a space for meeting and education currently in appeal against recent council rejection following opposition from local residents and far-right political groups.

The work is open-ended with no fixed outcome or date for completion: as well as an inquiry in itself, the building is treated as a test-bed – a space for developing methodologies and processes using text, images and sounds for describing and mapping places and spaces. The images displayed are works in progress exploring various methods of dissemination (photographic compositions; book; text), recording the building in it’s empty state alongside current renovation by members of the Al-Iman Society (October 2009), who wait in anticipation of council approval and public acceptance of their contribution to the town and its inhabitants."

23

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:20:00 +0000

22

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:05:00 +0000

22-10-09, this is where I'm at. And it was quite helpful.

Templates (in no particular order)

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:32:00 +0000

a royal burgh (kirkcudbrightshire for plymouth)

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:35:00 +0000

this.

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:16:00 +0000

The problem is, people are scared of change

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:34:00 +0000

The changes that the al-iman group have made to the building were good to see at last. I was shown around by Jafar who told me that there was still a lot to do but felt it was important to retain the past within the future when it comes to developing the building for it's new uses. What struck me was that the group were adding to the building rather than changing it. If anything they're restoring it back to it's 'former glory' with previously unseen 19thC features carefully cleaned and maintained. I will plan another visit on my own to document the changes in more detail, but Jafar was very welcoming of what I was doing, inviting me to meet others when more work was taking place. Whether their plans are accepted by the council, I don't know, but they've made their mark on the place, which for now is enough.

- Clicker closer maker finisher

- Activity room

- Storage

- Footwear

- Out

- This way

- Window

- Mats

Here - this weekend

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:36:00 +0000

Drop needle. Here somewhere, back to square one:

Mobile(ing)

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Blogpressing

No available nodes

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:48:00 +0000

Sit and learn

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:42:00 +0000

COKEZONE says...

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:03:00 +0000

COMMUNITY CENTRE PLANS REJECTED

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:29:00 +0000

"Plans to turn an old factory in Northampton into a Muslim community centre have been rejected by the body charged with overseeing the development of the town. The Al-Iman Society, which represents the town's East African community, had made the application to turn a former shoe factory on the corner of Cowper Street and Shakespeare Street, in The Mounts, into the centre. The application had previously been recommended for refusal and residents nearby had circulated a petition objecting to the plans. At a meeting of the West Northamptonshire Development Committee (WNDC) this week the application was turned down. John Weir, WNDC's Deputy Chairman and member of Northampton Area Planning Committee, said: "WNDC fully understands the need for new community centres but on this occasion the location is not suitable for the proposed use. The general noise and disruption from the proposed use would have an unacceptable impact on the surrounding area. "Secondly, Cowper Street and the surrounding roads do not have sufficient parking for current residents and therefore have no capacity for extra cars."Ahmed Ali, secretary of the Al-Iman Society, said the group respected the committee's decision but was disappointed, and will be having a meeting to decide its next step."

– from the northampton chronicle and echo, may 30

I missed this outcome and am disappointed (though not surprised) the chance to involve this group in the work may be lost. I'm hoping to arrange another visit to the factory asap to see what changes have been made. I now need to consider how this decision alters the direction of the work.

SPAM IMAGES

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:23:00 +0000

YOU ARE YOUR OWN TIMEKEEPER / GOD MADE THE COUNTRY AND MAN MADE THE TOWN

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:09:00 +0000

current inquiries shown as part of 'Empirical: new staff research' at The University of Northampton (11/6/09 – 3/7/09)

9 x A1 b&w laser prints

book

sound

second floor soundwalk (edit 2:15)

untitled (35:22)

production soundwalk (edit 5:25)

untitled (edit 14:57)

more images here

noise<>signal install

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:05:00 +0000

current noise<>signal inquiries: spam emails as digital prints, videos and sound. shown as part of 'Empirical: new staff research' at The University of Northampton (11/6/09 — 3/7/09)

installation view

digital prints (30 x 90cm)

sound excerpt (14:28)

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:17:00 +0000

Test

Monaco

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:15:00 +0000

Monaco 7.5pt

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Font test

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:13:00 +0000

Verdana 8pt
Verdana 9pt
Courier 8pt
Courier 9pt

INTO THE NOTHINGNESS OF SCORN AND NOISE (1 of 3)

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:56:00 +0000

INTO THE NOTHINGNESS OF SCORN AND NOISE (1 of 3) from james smith on Vimeo.

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:25:00 +0000

north

east

south

west

NOTHINGNESS OF (SCORN AND) NOISE

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:42:00 +0000

studies for a soundwalk, northampton: text and verse as composition. more sound to follow.

stage / verse 1.1:

YOU ARE YOUR OWN TIMEKEEPER

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:13:00 +0000

Produced as photographic documentation of the Chelsea Workshops. Available with CD of sound recordings taken at the factory. See this post for more information.

RECTO-VERSO

noreply@blogger.com (jsmith) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:00:00 +0000

"RECTO-VERSO is a recent outcome from an ongoing and open-ended enquiry into the use of appropriated sources as ingredients for the formation of new-media works. Potentially producing unique sounds indefinitely, in this work text and images are constantly collected from frequently updated internet news pages through a series of automated processes, and projected as abstracted sonic languages through (potentially) any number of channels."

featured at www.re-presentedgallery.org soon