David Gatten's 'Secret History of the Dividing Line: A True Account In Nine Parts'

I went to see David Gatten's 'Secret History of The Dividing Line: A True Account In Nine Parts' in the Hyde Park cinema on Sunday. I was really impressed with the four films, each about half an hour long. However, I felt the statement he was trying to put across was achieved within the first ten minutes, but that just shows the generation I'm from. I really liked the lack of colour and the repetition, it reminded me of the begins of video art, when there was no in-camera editing or editing programmes, so the viewer was often presented with a simple idea that seemed to loop over and over again, most notably Newman's video of a man stamping on the gallery floor. Furthermore, I liked his allusions to the film's titles, for instance the first five minutes of the initial 'Dividing Line' video, the viewer watched a line statically break around the screen, seemingly attempting to find a place to settle, which matched the context of the work.

In his 'The Great Art of Knowing' video, a kaleidoscope affect was created on screen, each image seemingly a section or line from an old map of America, though the still transfigured with enough speed for the viewer never to relax on a definition of these irregular forms.

I watch a lot of video art, as I am always intrigued, if not occassionally baffled by the artist's intention. Usually I am pleased or perplexed, but it never directly inspires my work. However, after leaving the cinema, I had a sudden want to find old maps of Yorkshire for my project. I spent quite awhile in the Brotherton library, flicking through the great Atlases, near the West Wing, and though I didn't find what I was looking for, I was pretty excited to discover all the old notes, graphs, loggings, maps etc. in the Atlases, as it is so easy to just walk past them, that I'm grateful for Gatten to have inspired my discovery!

Old Map of the West Riding of Yorkshire c.1610