Celebrated film-maker Peter Anderson has been working alongside elite athletes at the University of Bath who are training for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
Peter has been looking at the Cultural Olympiad’s ethos – ‘the marriage between sport and the arts’, reflecting on influences from Eadweard Muybridge’s early pioneering work on animal locomotion.
Muybridge used multiple cameras and a zoopraxiscope, an early device which projected images from rotating glass discs in rapid succession to give the impression of motion. The stop-motion images were initially painted onto the glass, as silhouettes.
Peter is exploring the artistic interpretation arising from the rhythmic and aesthetic studies of athletes and dancers in motion and in their portrayal in moments of extreme focus.
Edited content is being presented as video and stills in the Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts’ Art Space 3 in the foyer of University Hall. The ongoing creative process consists of sketchbook work and storyboarding in the exploration of ideas, which will inform his final film, Marks Set Go (working title) to be specially created for screening on the BBC Big Screens and other sites in town and city centres across the South West during 2012.
Peter Anderson is a celebrated television director, filmmaker and visual artist working in dance and theatre. Throughout his career, he has worked with a range of choreographers and dance artists with varied approaches to dance-making. Peter was Artist in Residence at the University during January and February 2012; a collaboration between the ICIA and the Department for Sports Development.
Movement and dance on screen have been central to Anderson’s work for over 30 years. This is highlighted by his acclaimed short film Boy (1995), followed by Greenman (1998), Infanta (2000) and Brink (2001), some of which were created in collaboration with choreographer Rosemary Lee for broadcast on BBC2.
His teaching experience includes many art and design degree courses in the UK, five years at the Slade School of Art and 20 years as a visiting lecturer, MA film and TV design course, Kingston University, where he is a research fellow. He has led dance for camera workshops for professional choreographers, filmmakers and composers.
The exhibition is open between 10am and 5pm and runs until Friday 4 May.