Tim Skinner
Multi-media Installation Artist
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Footfall, 2010
‘footfall’was a month long visual and audible exloration into one of the most common sounds within human society, the sound of footsteps.
Entering such a large space was a very tranquil, cathartic experience for my practice, and has come at a perfect time in my artistic career.
At the start of the residency I constructed a six metre long catwalk-come-stage along the back wall of the gallery. A microphone was used to record sounds both internally and externally (from the structure) over the middle weeks of the residency. A video camera was set up to record any
visuals.
You will notice that the catwalk has been rotated 90 degrees; if you look closely you will be able to see footprints. The temptation to clean the structure was fierce but I wanted the structure to retain all of the marks and faults picked up throughout the
residency.
‘footfall’ has confirmed the emergence of a new visual direction
within my work,
Over the by past ten years I have been fascinated the concept of visualising sound, mainly exploring its unique
effect on water.
2007 saw a progression from sound installation into video, a change which helped to re-invigourate my visually creative soul. This change ended up not only helping to regaining visual solace but completely transformed my career.
Between the summer and autumn of 2007 I produced about ten video shorts all based around the documentation of sonic ripples formed from my sound sculpture. I tried to keep the videos fairly pure, only really manipulating colour and speed, making sure the ripples always remained the main visual focus.
The third piece ‘Enclosed’was first shown in New York , my work had never previously left English shores. I was mainly percieved to be a regional artist, my CV littered with Essex based exhibitions.
In 2008 I really started to fall in love with the video medium and the creative possibilities that modern software offered. I was spending less time actually recording and more time editing. ‘Far Away Rhythm’, created for an exhibition in Copenhagen ushered in new more complex, surreal creations. The constant cling to the visuals of sound was starting to fade away, new more ambiguous worlds were appearing.
Also a new obsession with repetition , which can be traced back to my first artistic encounter in 1990 aged nine, visiting the Royal Acadamy’ famous Monet exhibition.
Sound still plays a major part within my work, as this residency shows but how I go about exploring the sound has changed.
‘footfall’ also makes a visual statement about Cuckoo Farm Studios. Ever since arriving here my painting work was always plagued with a slightly fractured horizontal strip. This image can be seen all around Cuckoo Farm Studios, the gallery itself is surrounded by white horizontal lines, internally and externally.
Interestingly in the piece created during my one day residency at firstsite, which was a precursor to this work, white horizontal bars appeared but weremuch more ordered.
I would like to thank this year’s third year fine art degree students from Colchester School of Art and Design, for their help over the recording days.
Residency Images
Images of Final Piece
Footfall, video, roughly six minutes into installation.
