John Barlow – UK

John Barlow lives in London and works in communications. He recently completed a practice-based PhD in contemporary art and has previously worked in a number of campaign and communication roles in UK politics. His short films have screened at a number of film festivals in the UK, the US, Mexico and Italy. Filmography: ‘Slate’ (2019); ‘After Paxos’ (2019); ‘From Markov to Skripal’ (2018); ‘The Night Train North’ (2018); ‘Whose Dreamland?’ (2017); ‘Heading Due North’ (2017); ‘Coastal Drift’ (2016).

After Paxos, 2019

8mm colour footage shot on and around the island of Paxos, Greece is juxtaposed with excerpts of black and white found footage from an old 8mm film reel containing views of Tokyo, Japan. A sequence of short colour clips portray a journey from a house in the wooded interior of Paxos to the island’s shoreline, and then out into the Ionian sea. They contrast with four, much slowed-down, black and white clips, and a multilayered soundtrack comprising city noise, air conditioning hum and air traffic control chatter. ‘After Paxos’ alludes to how travel, time and (imperfect) memory, with their abilities to both connect and disconnect us from experiences, can distort our perceptions of place and time; and how modern life can leave us alienated from the natural world.