Necessary Amendments

Necessary Amendments

Necessary Amendments is a series of films that were all made in post-war British new towns. It began with the discovery of a crude dichotomy at the very beginning of these plans. On the 8th May 1946 at the parliamentary reading of the New Towns Bill, the minister of Town and Country Planning, Lewis Silkin read:

“If the towns to be built under this Bill are new, neither the need for them, nor the idea, is in any sense new. My researches on new towns go back to the time of Sir Thomas More who, incidentaly, was beheaded, but that must not be regarded as a precedent for the treatment of town planners”. At this point Lietenant Colenel Sir Thomas More interjected:

On a point of Order. May I claim your protection, Mr. Speaker? It has just been announced by the right hon. Gentleman that I have been beheaded. I want to know whether there is any confirmation of that.

________

‘The Carboniferous Epoch’

HD Video, 2013

14’14”

commissioned by The Northern Gallery For Contemporary Art and the North East Photography Network

Watch a short clip here

________

‘Necessary Amendments’

HD Video, 2019

13’36”

Commissioned by MK Gallery

Watch the film here

________

‘Homes For The People’

HD Video, 2020

20’13”

Commissioned by New Geographies in partnership with UH Arts

Watch the film here