Road to Ruin - Galicia 2004

Although there is no mention of a motorcycle in this video, I'm still going to say that this is the first video in a new series that I'm doing called 'Road to Ruin'. The idea behind it, which will be discussed further once it gets off the ground, being connected with the journey to a destination, investigation of some of the history behind it (not just ruins, hopefully soon I'll be visiting a friend in Spain who restores old motorcycles, for example, and what he does is incredible), and some artistic interpretation along with it.

I already have one or two other people interested in just tagging along, and some becoming actively involved, so chances are a website is on its way.

This video is partly a template for what is to come. While I've been planning this for a while, this video is the result of a project that I was required to do for my MA - naturally, far more than just these 4.5mins. In the next week I have to give a full presentation on the project background as well. It was however, a good opportunity to experiment - the general layout, with a number of changes, will be what i'll be using for the main series.

I should say that this is the 'public' release for a number of reasons - not least of which is that the original soundtrack has been replaced. Far more applicable (A Lavandeira da Noite by Carlos Nunez), the original can only be used in education circles using a 'fair use' clause.

You also see far less of the final product of the design work - an installation piece using lasers to project a motion linked set of footprints on historic foot paths at Santa Tecla (Santa Tegra) in Galicia, Spain.

Finally, in this video we don't see much of the touring itself, much to my chagrin. The blame for this can be laid firmly at the foot of a high-street electronics store here in the UK who managed not only to eradicate any working life in the video camera of that time, but also all of the video. This is even worse as the vehicle in question (a limited edition MGTF) was written off by a third-party a few years later, so great memories of the vehicle are gone forever. In future, video taken from the touring vehicle (from now on M/C) will be an inherent part of the video.

In the main, this video documents the process to produce the product, not principally the journey. As a result the three strips (which will be a trade-mark of these videos) show environment, actual art influences, and finally thinking / production.

I'm planning a group based return to Santa Tecla by motorcycle in the next year of so, followed by another trip to Alhambra mixed in amongst other UK trips. The trip in this video is just one of a number of past trips that will also be documented, previously by using touring sports car and 4x4.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Road to Ruin
• Galicia
• Santa Tecla
• Santa Tegra
• artistic
• MGTF
• touring
• castros