Artist in Focus: John Smith
Walking Tour
with John Smith and John Rogers
Between them John Smith and John Rogers hold a deep and personal knowledge of the landscape of Leyton and Leytonstone, where the Slow Film Festival is based. We are thrilled that two of the areas most dedicated psychosocial cartographers will be joining forces for a very special event, guiding us through the areas social historyon a walk to locations from Smith’s films.
In the early 1980s the ACME Housing Association started providing live / work spaces in Leytonstone for artists, in condemned houses that had been compulsorily purchased by the Department of Transport in preparation for the building of the M11 Link Road. In 1982, John Smith was one of the first artists to move into one of these houses, having been told that he could expect to benefit from the very cheap rent for two or three years, after which time his house would be demolished. But vigorous opposition to the road, first through legal challenges and later through direct action, held back the work for many years, until John was eventually evicted from his home in 1994. On this walk he will talk about his diverse experiences over 12 years in an area that temporarily housed the largest concentration of artists in Europe. During this period John made some of his best-known works, including The Black Tower, Home Suite and Blight, the locations of which will be visited en route.
“When I moved to Leytonstone 19 years ago I realised that my decision to move here had been massively influenced by the landscapes of the filmmaker John Smith who I had been obsessively watching and re-watching for around five years. John’s film the Black Tower had occupied my psyche like the unseen protagonist of the film. This led me to write an article that year for the Journal of East London studies about the cinematic topographies of North East London and I have been exploring this landscape ever since creating my own works delving into the incredible landscape of Leytonstone and it’s hinterland.” - John Rogers
JOHN SMITH is one of Britain’s best known and most influential avant-garde filmmakers and has been described as “One of the UK’s most enduringly important moving-image artists” (Erika Balsom, ‘Best of 2022’, Artforum), and as “My favorite British film maker” by Jarvis Cocker. John’s films blend humour, political engagement and formal invention to make works on the politics of how we see the world. They open space for imagining different ways of seeing and thinking and consistently challenge the presentation of truth in the constructed worlds of films and images. John was born in Walthamstow, moving to Leytonstone in the early 1980s, and the area has been the setting for many of his best known works including The Black Tower, Blight and Home Suite.
JOHN ROGERS is a psychic cartographer of North East London. John is a filmmaker and author of several books on London including Welcome to New London - journeys and encounters in the post-Olympic city and This Other London - adventures in the overlooked city.
“John is Elizabethan, a film-poet, writer/walker from a better time. He has a history of alternative stand-up. A history of persistent engagement in the politics of protest, being there, bearing witness. Keeping the record. And posting it.” – Iain Sinclair, from The Last London