Sutcliffe, Stephen
Stephen Sutcliffe's videos merge together film footage and audio recordings from his own extensive archive. The Garden of Proserpine combines an exert from an episode of Monty Python, a looped instrumental section from a track by The Smiths and a recording of Judi Dench reading Algernon Charles Swinburne's poem The Garden of Proserpine.
Sutcliffe's method of constructing his films involves a process of association for each piece of material. He layers and collages, linking by association, establishing complex relationships. Here Proserpine’s garden, as described by Swinburne’s poem, becomes entwined with the setting of the Monty Python scene. Together with the music, the film seems to suggest that the men are battling one another in order to reach the eternal sleep to which the poem refers.
- Artwork Details: running time: 2 minutes 8seconds
- Edition: 1 of 5 + 2AP
- Material description: video transfered to DVD
- Credit line: © the artist.
- Theme:
- Medium: Film and Audio Visual
- Accession number: ACC22/2010