Reflection - MAO

Above is a short film from Fantastic Cities by Penny Woolcock. (unfortunately my phone died shortly after so I couldn't capture any more reference materials from the exhibition.

Penny Woolcock’s exhibition at MAO, entitled fantastic cities, was very powerful. Both extremely passionate and challenging, her work focusses around the urban experience, at times layered along side stories from literature, film and music. Her exhibition engages the audience with unfamiliar narratives, an opportunity to explore the ways people interact to create stories making sense of the emotional responses that come with city life.

Her most recent work in the exhibition, portrayed the two cities of LA and Oxford. The first, entitled Dreaming of Spires, focuses on Oxford and a comparison of the historical division referred to as the “town and gown”. It becomes clear through watching the film that there is a clear divide between the scholarly elements that Oxford is famous for and the ‘real’ Oxford. Personal accounts of the effects of this divide are presented by two young people who grew up in Oxford and the frustration of finding themselves unheard and disadvantaged is clear through their words.

Her film on set in LA, entitled ‘La La Land’, was filmed on her iPhone, which is relevant as I feel it made it a more relatable subject matter than if it had been made with professional production materials. ‘La La Land’ draws haunting comparisons between the extreme wealth and poverty in Los Angeles, it shows the effects of gentrification. A part that stood out to me was how the upscale arts district is a mere 3 blocks away from the destitute Skid Row area. I found it quite sickening to see the vast contrast between the gross and overwhelming wealth of and the apparent abandonment of those in poverty.