Today was a real contrast from the previous three as we were mainly working on our own. It was good to get some time and space to think through all that I’d seen and heard but there was also a feeling of maybe being out on a limb.

I have been keen to try to build a parallel sequence of camera shots and Street View images in order that I might somehow interpolate between the two. Unfortunately the Street View sequence is essentially incomplete and the image quality not consistent due to the projection technique used to enable 3D control. The difference can be seen in the following ‘contact sheets’.

In my image set (the first one), even the name of the street has been blacked out, adding to a sense that the former (and until recent times) identity of ‘Martensen Street’ has been wiped out.

In the following video sketch I have run my image sequence through a home-spun slit-scan routine created using Quartz Composer. Video processing is real-time which lends itself well to becoming part of an interactive installation or performance.

I’ve long been interested in the axis between definition and abstraction/deconstruction and for me the slit-scan technique is a good way to explore this territory. The purposeful demolition of a street and all its culture leading to the creation of a useless empty space that kids cannot even play football on (because the ground is too soft) is a type of social deconstruction that I’m keen to respond to. Perhaps an audio-visual installation that gives the viewer control over the deconstruction process but implicitly involves them in this brutalist sweep-up, thus provoking reflection and argument? Just an idea, like…