Firstly I read up on his life and discovered a few things about who he was and what he did:
- Raban was born in Norfolk in 1948 and began studying and developing his art at art school in 1967. At art school he mainly worked on making physical art such as prints which were all about connecting with natural surfaces such as bark and waves. I feel like this element of his works well with this project in terms of natural and ecology however he did move on from this...
- Raban's interests in landscapes then moved on in the 80s more towards a historical and socio-political context with him looking into the history of London and the Thames. This links to our project through geography still however also shows connections in history.
- The films Raban made from the 90s are focused on looking at 'the island of Britain and its people, in the context of the global economy and the effects of urban change.'
- He now works as a Professor/Lecturer at the University for Art in London.
Looking at his Work:
Firstly to see his progression I looked at one of his earlier film pieces which did focus on Landscapes and revealing hidden features about them through film:
Broad walk (1970's)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdzZXwjQ6zg
(embedding code for this video wouldn't work hence why its a link)
I really like how abstract this piece is. It focuses quite heavily on technique in order to portray the atmosphere of this place. The time-lapse really helps to show you the hustle and bustle and it gives you a much wider image of the place then just say watching a standard video of the place. The fast pace of it also adds to the atmosphere making it seem hectic and full. Ian not sure what the over exposed parts of this piece are but I like how it sums up the place almost in a crescendo like fashion and then the loop almost begins again. Sound I think is also very important to this piece I think because it begins with the simplistic sound of the footsteps tapping which is what you would expect to hear here and then it warps that by slowing it down and speeding it up as the piece goes on. I think this shows again the place in a abstract way but still representing the busyness of it.
I then decided to watch one of his historic/political pieces to see how I liked this in comparison:
Thames Film
http://www.luxonline.org.uk/video/artists/william_raban/thames_film.html
This film was not available in full or on youtube so I managed to watch an extract of it at the link above. I found it very historical in the way it used imagery not only from the river but also it used old maps to show how the river use to be used by Mills. I like how it is informational but also artsy with interesting sounds and images. I found that it made even more sense to me once I had watched the video below which has Raban speaking in it about what he was trying to do with this film...
He explains here that he wanted to make a film about London but actually from the view point of the river. I think this as a simple concept is actually really interring because it is giving you a new way to look at something and it also adds meaning to the river whilst doing so.
After watching his work and looking into who he is and what he does I feel a lot more inspired to use this topic of maps and networks to maybe start exploring some geographical ways of working but from different and unique viewpoints.
- Raban was born in Norfolk in 1948 and began studying and developing his art at art school in 1967. At art school he mainly worked on making physical art such as prints which were all about connecting with natural surfaces such as bark and waves. I feel like this element of his works well with this project in terms of natural and ecology however he did move on from this...
- Raban's interests in landscapes then moved on in the 80s more towards a historical and socio-political context with him looking into the history of London and the Thames. This links to our project through geography still however also shows connections in history.
- The films Raban made from the 90s are focused on looking at 'the island of Britain and its people, in the context of the global economy and the effects of urban change.'
- He now works as a Professor/Lecturer at the University for Art in London.
Looking at his Work:
Firstly to see his progression I looked at one of his earlier film pieces which did focus on Landscapes and revealing hidden features about them through film:
Broad walk (1970's)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdzZXwjQ6zg
(embedding code for this video wouldn't work hence why its a link)
I really like how abstract this piece is. It focuses quite heavily on technique in order to portray the atmosphere of this place. The time-lapse really helps to show you the hustle and bustle and it gives you a much wider image of the place then just say watching a standard video of the place. The fast pace of it also adds to the atmosphere making it seem hectic and full. Ian not sure what the over exposed parts of this piece are but I like how it sums up the place almost in a crescendo like fashion and then the loop almost begins again. Sound I think is also very important to this piece I think because it begins with the simplistic sound of the footsteps tapping which is what you would expect to hear here and then it warps that by slowing it down and speeding it up as the piece goes on. I think this shows again the place in a abstract way but still representing the busyness of it.
I then decided to watch one of his historic/political pieces to see how I liked this in comparison:
Thames Film
http://www.luxonline.org.uk/video/artists/william_raban/thames_film.html
This film was not available in full or on youtube so I managed to watch an extract of it at the link above. I found it very historical in the way it used imagery not only from the river but also it used old maps to show how the river use to be used by Mills. I like how it is informational but also artsy with interesting sounds and images. I found that it made even more sense to me once I had watched the video below which has Raban speaking in it about what he was trying to do with this film...
He explains here that he wanted to make a film about London but actually from the view point of the river. I think this as a simple concept is actually really interring because it is giving you a new way to look at something and it also adds meaning to the river whilst doing so.
After watching his work and looking into who he is and what he does I feel a lot more inspired to use this topic of maps and networks to maybe start exploring some geographical ways of working but from different and unique viewpoints.
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