Bergson’s Duration in Sapphire And Steel (Assignment One, 1979).

With time being at the core of the series, Sapphire and Steel is perhaps one of the few cult television programs whose narratives can convey astutely some questioning of the philosophy of temporal concepts. Rather than being a framing device for journey and travel, as in series like Doctor Who (1963-1989), time becomes a force that is questioned, harnessed and even fought against in the … Continue reading Bergson’s Duration in Sapphire And Steel (Assignment One, 1979).

adamscovellMay 30, 2016April 20, 2026Leave a comment

Psychogeography, Television

Poetics of Visual Space in Ian Nairn’s “Nairn Across Britain” (1972).

In the 1980’s introduction to the repeated BBC Ian Nairn series, Nairn Across Britain (1972), Jonathan Meades suggests that the series still managed to capture Nairn’s sense of poetics and character in spite of “the filming techniques seeming a bit dated, as nothing dates quite like the recent past”. Though Meades is right in his effusing about Nairn’s character – an endlessly watchable, impassioned, melancholic … Continue reading Poetics of Visual Space in Ian Nairn’s “Nairn Across Britain” (1972).

adamscovellMay 23, 20161 Comment

Literature, Psychogeography

Wanders: Thomas De Quincey’s Soho.

London, with its eternal agitations, the ceaseless ebb and flow of its “mighty heart” – De Quincey (1823). After one of the most hectic days of the year so far, I had some hours to kill in London before meeting a friend for an exhibition at the Royal Academy. The day had been frantic, with large amounts of strangely powerful coffees being downed around New … Continue reading Wanders: Thomas De Quincey’s Soho.

adamscovellMay 16, 2016October 12, 20172 Comments

Art

Responses: John James Audubon’s Animals And Birds.

On a day where an unusually hazy rain persisted in a constant downfall, I took refuge in the redbrick building of the Victoria Museum and Gallery that lies at the top of Brownlow Hill. The building sits in sharp contrast to the more medicinal university buildings which surround it, one being brutalist in its strange edges and institute sensibility, the other being passive-aggressive in its … Continue reading Responses: John James Audubon’s Animals And Birds.

adamscovellMay 9, 2016Leave a comment

Landscape, Literature, Psychogeography, Short Film

Trailer – A Walk By Waiting (Pinter/Sinclair).

Above is the trailer for a very short fragment of film made in collaboration with the writer, Iain Sinclair. Though I had been thinking about doing something with the poems of Harold Pinter for the some time, I had left it to stew away rather than properly organise it as with other, simpler films. With initially failing to get in touch with Iain, I had … Continue reading Trailer – A Walk By Waiting (Pinter/Sinclair).

adamscovellMay 2, 2016Leave a comment