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(Utopian Memory Banks Present) Fragments From The Past

David Perry
1973

Aspects of life in London seen from an imagined and somewhat dystopian future. The presenter on the screen has the scars of a serious burning across his face. It was produced while Perry was teaching at Hornsey College of Art in London. The project, based on the idea of looking back from some future time at what had been happening in London immediately after the Paris student revolution of 1968 and the unrest in British colleges over the same time, imagines that some 'documents' of material shot around London during this period have been discovered. This material is represented as though it were old found footage. It includes bits of film and portapak-video footage used in the same work, exploiting the contrast of textures. As the presenter says: “We must avoid at all costs the danger of collective amnesia.”

London
UK
Utopian Memory Banks Present Fragments from the Past by David Perry 1973, – via Vimeo 
Frame from David Perry's Utopian Memory Banks (1973)
Frame from David Perry's Utopian Memory Banks (1973)