25/09/2012
Hello. My name is Christine Entwisle and I'm an artist, performer and film maker. I will be hosted by MIND
HUB for the next four months, and have been commissioned to make a piece of work which responds to the HUB
to be shown In January 2013. At the moment I am particularly interested in intrusive and obsessive thoughts,
images, sounds and voices which repeat and play over and over in our minds, or which affect us again and
again in our lives.
Whilst some of you may be interested in hands on involvement, others may just want to talk and, I hope,
share their experiences with me. Thank you.
09/10/2012
"Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult'"... I am finding it quite satisfying to express great big dark
worrying things through the medium of embroidery. I have purchased a wonderful super 8 camera which does
slow motion AND does cross fades AND time lapse. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the cassette loading
mechanism, it will only cross fade over 58 frames so I cannot run the whole film through twice and double
expose it. Not yet anyhow. Although perhaps that's the next part of the experiment. For now I will
concentrate on loops and repetition. Folk are sharing ideas about recurring thoughts and images and they
range from fairly scary to quite beautiful. I really want to kick off filming next week. I can see it's
going to be a challenge for me as a novice super 8 editor so the sooner we start the better.
I still feel like a stranger ... or some sort of cuckoo.
02/11/2012
It's getting harder, not easier. I have to think differently. Stop ignoring what's right in front of my
face. What this hosting is challenging me with. For them: Time is an issue. Commitment is an issue. Drive is
an issue. Mood is an issue. Not being able to leave the house is an issue. I retreat into my own loops to
protect myself. I watch my sleeping dog breathe in and out. I watch Strictly over and over. I watch the
light move across my wall all afternoon and the clouds going over head. Perhaps this is what I should be
filming. Because it is my true response to my "responsibility" and any negativity or unpredictability in the
environment. Depending upon the analytic theory my loops are "defences" or "safety seeking".
09/11/2012
One staff member inspires me to think about water and that inevitable rise and fall over time. The rising
water has a potentially catastrophic feel for him. I have acquired a rare time elapse button from Ireland to
shoot the rise and fall of the Thames. but in the meantime am off to shoot that bit of water which is the
best and most peaceful bit of water in England: Derwent Water.
15/11/2012
I attach a photo taken from my iPhone of the view I shot over two hours looking out across Derwent Water.
I'm not sure how it will turn out but it was lovely to do. The clouds and water change very quickly and I
think I managed to capture some Canada Geese flying overhead. I couldn't be further from Archway and the A1.
I am waiting for things to make sense. Tomorrow I am going to film one of the service users on a trapeze in
her house. Off to beg some lights from The People Show. My tester film came back and the good news is that
the camera works very well. The bad news is that my attempt at creating a "flying" effect didn't work. One
guy spoke of flying in his dreams. Pushing off and being able to fly. We tried shooting a stop motion thing
but the framing was out so that you can only see the feet off the ground for a short distance. Rats. Try
again.
20/11/2012
I have stuck some questions on postcards and made a shiny red post box. Finding a nail to put it up with
proved beyond my capabilities so I return tomorrow. I hope that people will answer my questions, or write
anything at all.
25/11/2012
I left the postcards at people's places for lunch. I chose not to explain hoping that it would be more
intriguing to discover them. I wonder if anyone filled them in and put them in the box. I will return
tomorrow and find out. I always wanted to work for the Post Office. No really. They used to have a great
works canteen in Carlisle. And all the doors had that wire mesh in the glass. Just like my secondary school.
And the BBC.
15/12/2012
spent all day on The Isle Of Dogs to make a time lapse of the water rising in response to someone's
recurring anxiety. It was an amazing day. Hopefully the film will come out ok. And most magical of all, a
seal came to see me when the tide reached its highest. I shot it (on camera). It felt like a reward for
standing still for six hours. And well worth it. I put a dolly in the foreground for context after
discussing the camera angle and set up with the person who's idea it was. Just wish I had shot it in colour
and not black and white, as the dolls flesh tones and blue eyes/eye were quite something ...
14/01/2012
think I may have been a bit ambitious. Two weeks to go and I need to edit five more loops, work out how to
present them, find projectors, get the right kind of scows, work out where there's plaster board and where
there's masonry, learn how to make sound tracks... off into the HUB now. It's snowing!
23/01/2012
Projectors are moody little beggars. The one I was using to test my loops has made crazy scratches on some
of the footage; spent today making new loops where I could. Still one projector down despite being lent one
by the lovely Peter at Second Chance charity shop. Got a bit of an emotional hang over after seeing Sarah's
show. Bloody hell.
Trying to think what to write to help guide people through the installation. And what sort of screws to
use. And where to hire another projector from.
I can't test out screen positions and which projector is most appropriate to go where because a) its light
and b) one pair of hands. Will have to wait till Friday evening. In the meantime I'm working on the
soundtrack and eating anything hot, blimey...
24/01/2012
There is nowhere NOWHERE (apart from bristol and Perth) that will hire 8mm projectors out. The hunt
continues...
27/01/2012
It's over. You'd think I'd fall into a deep and pleasant sleep but instead my head was crawling with giant
lice and no matter how many plopped out onto the floor, there were always plenty left. I've got an
adrenaline, beer and fast food hangover. My flat looks like its been inhabited by marauding vikings for a
week. Next up directing a little film for a charity in Reading that cares for autistic under fives. Should
be quite different.
CREDITS
Thanks to all those at Mind Hub who took part.
Mind Hub hosts: Pat O'Driscoll and Tom Fea
Technical assistant: Sybella Perry
Installation assistant and assistant camera operator: Paul Hamilton
Event assistants: Harrison Moore and Fran Smith
Also thanks to: The People Show, Sophie Russell, Bernadette Russell, Peter from Second Chance, Vito Rocco,
David Leister, The Elusive Thames Seal