1989

This is a video is inspired by Mark Leckey's 'Dream English Kid'. It is a compilation, appropriation of found footage from 1989 through 1997 of different memories I had as a child growing up in the early 90's. TV shows, adverts, happenings, media stories etc.

In parts of this video the movement of the imagery syncs with the movement of the music.

Using found footage from the 90's creates a sense of nostalgia. In particular it is effective when the footage is clearly filmed on an old camera with grain and dust scratches. Including a range of footage from adverts, music and movies creates an overall sense of British culture and media presence within the piece which in contrast with scenes of nature gives a juxtaposition of what life was like for a Northern country girl; a mix of being in the countryside, in the Lake District and sat in front of the television, such like a lot of children of my era.

The song used in the video brings back a lot of memories for me and it is one that came out in 1995, my Mum bought it for me on tape and I listened to it on repeat for weeks and weeks, listening to nothing else. The song itself was initially going to be rejected for Enya's album, the lyrics were written by Roma Ryan and they were based on "the search for the temporal heaven all cultures call 'home'". I thought the song was fitting as it brings me so much nostalgia, hopefully others too but it is also a video about our home, Earth and in particular the UK. Political, social, economical and environmental events/disasters that happened in the early 90's that affected a lot of people, that had an impact on my upbringing in the UK and also my families and others in one way or another.