William Raban is one of the foremost British artists and experimental filmmakers of the last forty years, known primarily for his landscape, performance and multi-screen based films. Filmed over 6 days, the time-lapse technique compresses a classic text into a 9 minute experience raising questions as to how film might transcend verbal language. The picture is offset by David Cunningham’s score which is composed solely from the two words of the book’s title.
William Raban is an artist filmmaker who has exhibited worldwide in both art and film contexts. Initially known for his landscape and expanded cinema films of the 1970s, Raban’s landscape interests, were framed in the 80s towards a more historical and socio-political context: the history of London and the Thames. Reminiscent of Humphrey Jennings’ wartime films, Raban’s films from the 90s onwards look at the island of Britain and its people, in the context of the global economy and the effects of urban change.
Image courtesy of interviewee. September 11, 2017