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Multi-media record of cultural activity and learning environments at Surrey UniversityI

'By close-ups of the things around us, by focussing on hidden details of familiar objects, by exploring commonplace milieus under the ingenious guidance of the camera, the film ... extends our comprehension of the necessities which rule our lives ... it manages to assure us of an immense and unexpected field of action. Our taverns and our metropolitan streets, our offices and furnished rooms, our railroad stations and our factories appeared to have us locked up hopelessly. Then came the film and burst this prison-world asunder by the dynamite of the tenth of a second, so that now, in the midst of its far-flung ruins and debris, we calmly and adventurously go travelling'.

(Walter Benjamin, 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction', 1936)

FILM PROJECT UPDATE (1)

The 'Artsexperience' film documentary project is well and truly up and running. Before Lois and I even managed to hold our first plenary, we arranged for a group of students from film and music to document the choreography weekend - a fascinating collaborative event combining the skills of dancers' physical movement with composers' creative abilities.

We were both absolutely delighted and inspired by the attendance at the subsequent plenary meeting last week. Well over 50 students from Music, Film, Dance, English, Media Studies and other Departments came and signed up enthusiastically for a variety of filming tasks, from production manager through presenter to music consultant and sound designer. Others who were unable to attend the meeting have also expressed interest, and so the catchment of this project is set to increase yet further.

Lois and I have held further meetings with production teams to earmark and prepare for the filming of forthcoming events in the arts calendar, such as lunchtime concerts, workshops, GSA productions, dance performances and visiting artist concerts. The students are as excited as we are about the huge potential of this project, and this level of interest and commitment is a testament to the vibrant arts culture that has become an increasingly central part of life at the University, and which we all aim to explore, capture and promote in this project. 

'If a picture is worth a thousand words, then, at 24 frames per second, the moving images of an average, 90-minute film must be worth 129,600,000 - approximately 568 times the number of words that exist in the English language.' 

(Jeremy Barham, 2009)