Every Object Is The Mirror Of All Others

16mm film, colour and b/w, 58mins.

The film was originally shot in Rotherham and the semi-derelict industrial area between Sheffield and Rotherham. It was made during the final year of my fine art course at Sheffield City Polytechnic in 1991 to 1992 and features my father, who was almost 60 years old, and my son who had just turned two. It closely examines the relationship between their two worlds and the experience of living in a post industrial region in a moment for change.

Although the work has a very personal nature to a large extent it is informed by the work of the American philosopher Richard Rorty, who was at that time emerging as a controversial commentator on postmodern theory. In particular the work is formed around his analysis of Donald Davidson’s distinction between literal and metaphorical uses of language.

When I embarked on remaking the project I had not seen the original footage or the edit for over 25 years, and I had never seen the negative printed in high quality. During that time so much has changed, both in my life and also in the area that is was made. The reworking of this material looks beyond the superficial readings of life in a declining socio-econimc context. And with the additional of new discussions between myself and Sharon Kivland, my tutor during the film’s original production, it presents an analysis of the film's construction, the materials excluded from the original, and the multiple reworking of images and sequences.