On a whim after watching far too many episodes of BBC comedy Cunk on Britain (a documentary parody in which the character Philomena Cunk discusses the history of Britain), I decided to create my own mockmentary style video.
A clip from BBC’s Cunk on Britain, 2018.
In doing this, I hoped to further the characterisation of my curator persona used in previous pieces such as Localised Video of Shit and art is miserable enough. I was heavily influenced by the deadpan humour in Cunk on Britain – a type of style I was already using within my performances. I drew similarities between Philomena Cunk and performance artist Andrea Fraser for their use of cynical commentary and serious portrayal of a sometimes humourous persona.
In previous works, I had a loose idea of a persona which I was naturally embodying within my performances, but felt it beneficial to flesh out the character. And so I birthed Camilla Skye, an Instagram influencer and curator.
I constructed each aspect of her profile;
- Name: a pretentious sounding name you’d likely find from someone born and raised in Chelsea, west London. I chose the last name Skye in reference to the light blue suit she always wears in official public appearances.
- Age: not too young, and not too old. Appeals to both the younger generation as a role model, as well as the older generation as an object of desire/jealousy.
- Height: in reality, I’m 5 foot tall. Most Instagram influencers have endless height that I can only dream of.
- Fave Food: the only way Camilla Skye maintains her figure is by eating nothing that has flavour and excitement.
- Fave Emoji: 💁♀️, or “information desk woman”. The knowledgeable Camilla has a lot of useless information.
- Appearance: I chose wavy, long hair dressed down as most influencers have this. Big hoops, a gemstone necklace, and glittery eyeshadow are a must for popular influencers. I chose a bold patterned, yet smart blouse so Camilla can stand out amongst the boring regular documentary presenters. She did also come with a lanyard badge but I forgot to wear it on the day of filming.
The purpose of the mockumentary would be an informational guide to the Instagrammable areas within London. I had mapped out locations of interest, such as colourful painted walls and streets, famous landmarks, recognisable art such as some Banksy pieces, and art galleries. The intention was to critique the visitors to these locations and debate their technique of selfie taking (and if the opportunity was right, I would offer myself as a selfie assistant to help them get the perfect shot). I would also take these picturesque locations, and point out the unsightly aspects such as litter, dog poo, and crowds. London being the capital city had a lot of opportunity to capture selfie content. However, the morning of filming my cameraman cancelled, so I had to quickly change plans. And so I decided to stick closer to home, and find the Instagrammable areas of Reading and critique/promote them.
In changing the subject of the mockmentary from London to Reading, the overall tone became more personal and humble. Reading isn’t really known for magnificent sights, so by creating this video I would be able to highlight some gems within the disgusting face of the town. Filming in Reading actually made the work funnier, as the town doesn’t really have a high standard for me to reach for. The humour of attempting to make somewhere disgusting look even slightly better works in favour for the style of comedy.
Additionally, there were storm level winds which really messed up the planning and execution of the video; there was a constant battle with the wind in terms of quality of audio recording, and steadiness of the camera. However, I quite enjoy the rusty outcome of the video. Whilst the actual composition of the shots I filmed weren’t really ideal for Instagram, in photos you can manipulate the scene however you want. The purpose of the video was informational, rather than trying to be perfect for Instagram.
Below is a transcript for the voice over parts in which I list the intentions of the video and the purpose behind creating it.
Whilst this video seems like a digression from my previous work, it was extremely fun to make. It helped clarify the direction I want my art to follow, in addition to fleshing out the persona which I had unknowingly embodied within my performances. In previous video work, the successes were when I broke the fourth wall and made a comment to the viewer. However, I could’ve pushed the self-sabotage and self-critical aspect further to make the video even more humourous. Whilst I understand the actual editing and directing of the video needs technical work, I wish not to follow in the direction of film making. I much prefer the intimate and imperfect nature of performance.
@kirstinartist 