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To
celebrate the Year of the Artist Focal Point Gallery have commissioned
a series of new works by Artist Roz Mortimer. These six short
films will show Southend as you've never seen it before. A woman
takes us on a fabulous journey through the seafront attractions,
shamelessly flouting convention to explore her desires and confront
her/our deepest fears. The commission will also result in a series
of still images which will be sited in six different locations
amongst the seafront amusements during the show. All of the works
will be shot on location in Southend and Roz will be working
with the archives of Southend Central Museum, Essex Record Office
and Southend Pier Museum when carrying out research for the commission.
Roz
Mortimer's work is an intriguing mix of fact and fiction. Her
films have a starting point in documentary ....but things are
never quite what they seem. She tells us one thing, but shows
us another, thus alluding to a myriad of sometimes unwelcome
associations. She uses characters and settings, partially reconstructed
from collective memory (the nursery rhyme, fairy tale, children's
book, advertisement) to awaken a recognition and association
which compound with the conflicting message to unsettling effect.
She has a highly developed understanding of the English experience.
Her narratives though humorous and surreal, are disturbing insights
into Englishness repression and guilt.
Focal
Point Gallery would like to thank the staff at Southend Central
Museum, Southend Pier Museum, Essex Record Office, Never Never
Land and Adventure Island for their support with this project.
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