Bristol Derives 1: Basin/'Getting In Is The Easy Part' [trans_scribe/trans_late]

 

All Photo-Manipulations: April 2023

[Reconfigured/Translated Video Transcript]:

Bristol needs to build more places to live the big question of course is where not in the current scheme of things on a delicious green field know what the fuck planners like are brownfield sites Brunelz bridge overlooked by the expensive properties of Clifton and hot wells so thanks dat shitz found just dat the area ta be known as da Western Harbor Stallions it's always been called Basin...

All Original Images: Cumberland Basin & Surrounding Area, Bristol, April 2023

...what is a brownfield site well shiiit according to the urban planning definition its land which has been previously developed but is not currently in use Bristol’s Floating Harbor shipping moves in and out of the harbour through these locks whilst the Avon is diverted along the New Cut waterway constructed to take the title river through South and East Bristol dat shitz a place dat can wit' very high tides be prone ta floodin' forgetting in & out of Bristol an area full of structures reflecting the city's maritime heritage...

...Ballard has listed building status but dat shitz not just a collection o' old relics from da past dat shit has itz own community people live here what has the City Council proposed for this area at the moment nothing for certain call a visioning report which is full of thoughts and aspirations what the fuck who the fuck... 

...the area's 1960s road network needs major and very expensive refurbishment heavy traffic techniques toll on the mainly elevated reinforced concrete structure piles ta da 1965 Plymouth Soul Swing Bridge which doesn't quite operate at the speed da traffic accused when it opens for shipping probably which it did dat shitz been suggested that before tens of millions of pounds is spent why not see if the current road layout in the area is still fit for purpose the riverside garden centre was initially rather concerned as there was a thought to put a new dual carriageway right through the middle o' dat shit... 

...and should a new bridge be built in a different place further down the even gorge but if that happens could classic view and housing land here be used for the construction of new homes and businesses what about the three former tobacco bonded warehouses which dominate the area what the fuck part could they play in all dis... 

...how tha fuck does dat shit all tie in wit' da cityz plans to encourage people to use public transport and cycle and walk more and what about its cleaner air objectives the public and interest groups have given their muthafuckin' opinions on Bristol City Council’s initial vision n' a masta plan fo' what the fuckz ta be proposed this unique and historic area is to be worked on between the end of 2022 and the spring of 2024 so many questions with as yet no answers…

Completed Painting: 'Territory [Lateral Flow]'

 

'Territory [Lateral Flow]', Acrylic on Panel, 100 cm x 100 cm, 2022

A recently-completed piece of work.  Here are some points to consider:

• The first piece of physical work after a moderate period of reflection/a reminder of the simple pleasures of 'making'.

• Certain continuities of approach prevail [conscious method/many metres of masking tape deployed].

• 'Pure' painting [physical medium/application].

• A possible portal to subject/sub_ject-ivity [realised within a non-expressionistic mode].

• A tension between [a form of] photo-realism/synthesised abstraction [formal].

• A modest [conscious] expansion in scale.

• Philosophical grounding .

• Cartography re_set.

• New ways to access source imagery [mediation = key].

• Repeated visits in space/time encapsulated [actual/virtual].

• Imagery nested/layers acknowledged/locations pin_pointed [over_lay].

• Site-specificity within the drift.

• Zone of trans_formation.

• Local[e].

• A tangent/side-step/run-off [lateral movement].

• Rhizome junctures [ghost trains/lines of flight].

• Inter_ruptions in the flow [pause for thought].

• Stratified space/vacancies en_closed.

• De/Re_territorialization.

• Change in elevation [implied]: via_duct/cause_way/the ramp.

• Death adjacent [with dignity].

• This is/was the place [time-coded].

"A rhizome may be broken, shattered at a given spot, but it will start up again on one of its old lines, or on new lines... Every rhizome contains lines of segmentarity according to which it is stratified, territorialized, signified, attributed, etc., as well as lines of deterritorialization down which it constantly flees. There is a rupture in the rhizome whenever segmentary lines explode into a line of flight, but the line of flight is part of the rhizome." [1.]

"The map is open and connectable in all of its dimensions; it is detachable, reversible, susceptible to constant modification. It can be torn, reversed, adapted to any kind of mounting, reworked by an individual, group or social formation. It can be drawn on a wall, conceived as a work of art, constructed as a political action or as a meditation." [2.]

"One of the basic situationist practices in the derive, a technique of rapid passage through various ambiences. Derives involve playful-constructive behaviour and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll... 

"In a derive, one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain, and the encounters they find there. Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a derive point of view cities have psychogeographical contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones.

"But the derive includes both this letting-go, and its necessary contradiction: the domination of psychogeographical variations by the knowledge and calculation of their possibilities." [3.]





[1.] & [2.]: Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari, 'A Thousand Plateaus' (Trans. Brian Massumi), London/NYC/Dublin, Bloomsbury Academic, 1988/2004

[3.]: Guy Debord, 'Theory of the Derive', (Trans. Ken Knabb) Paris, 'Situationist International #2', 1958