Book cover design & photography: Patrick Goodall
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In 1977 I went to Leeds to study Fine Art, specialising in film. While I was there I wrote about my experiences every day, and this book is based on those diaries.
So this is the story of being an art student in the late seventies. At the time Leeds was thought to be one of the best colleges outside London. I felt lucky to be there. Many of the Fine Art staff were confident and confrontational, and so were many of the students. That was certainly the attitude of the place. But this is predominantly my story. So it’s more about film than about art, more about me than about the wider social context, and more about my sense of the period than about any conventional view of the seventies. About ten years ago I decided to get the diaries into some sort of readable form. The only way I could do so was to take each month’s diary entries, and use them to tell the story of that month. So each month for three years I clarified and abridged what I’d written thirty years earlier, and then at the end of the month emailed the result to Patrick. I had originally written quite a bit about each film I’d seen, but these bits of film criticism caused the diaries to be too fragmented. So after a few months I revised what I’d already written, and in later months kept this material to a minimum. At the end of three years, and following further discussions with Pat about what worked and what didn’t, I revised everything again. There were some issues of personal privacy, both for me and others, which have resulted in a few cuts to this online version. But I think it now accurately reflects what happened to me in Leeds, and is also quite readable. Thanks are due to Pat for the monthly motivation over the course of three years, and also for the cover. |
EXTRAS
I thought the diaries could do with the addition of some moving images by way of illustration. To that end I have included some of the Super 8 film which I shot during the time I was in Leeds. The context for each clip can be found in the diary entries for that month. The music on these clips comes from the Salmon Spread series of tapes, curated by Ian Wood, and played by musicians who were in Leeds with us. In particular these clips use music by George Hinchliffe, Dave Walklett, and Ian Wood.
STREET SCENES - FEBRUARY 1978 & JUNE 1979
THE COVENTRY TRIP - JANUARY 1979
FRIENDS - JUNE 1979
I thought the diaries could do with the addition of some moving images by way of illustration. To that end I have included some of the Super 8 film which I shot during the time I was in Leeds. The context for each clip can be found in the diary entries for that month. The music on these clips comes from the Salmon Spread series of tapes, curated by Ian Wood, and played by musicians who were in Leeds with us. In particular these clips use music by George Hinchliffe, Dave Walklett, and Ian Wood.
STREET SCENES - FEBRUARY 1978 & JUNE 1979
THE COVENTRY TRIP - JANUARY 1979
FRIENDS - JUNE 1979
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