Charlotte Moth will move into the desert. She plans to develop a work that is a form of antithesis to an archive, that explores the potential use and activation of imagery, but is also indebted to a form of research and accumulation of looking and recording that an archive can reveal, where the creation of myth can take place.
In 1999 Charlotte Moth started to take photographs of buildings and spaces within seaside and leisure locations. They were at this moment a form of research and way to instigate ideas towards the generation of sculptures. At that time Moth was pre-occupied with forms of simulacra, with a form of sculptural drawing or observation achieved through physically re-fabricating and falsifying spaces. The resulting collection of photographs kept growing and Moth became increasingly aware that these photographs meant more to her than a hidden form of research or background activity: they needed a form of activation and questioning through the potential that externalization might bring, such as the context of an exhibition. She became interested in how research could exist as a form of practice. The activity of developing a long term collection contained a form of longevity, a relativity of speed and slowness that could develop on parallel levels, through the build up of images, sites and through the development of research on a conceptual level.
This research was triggered through the interests that surfaced within the images themselves, such as the questioning of social spaces, movements of architecture in relation to art historical movements such as constructivism. Moth’s work developed an interest in forms and use of language in relation to the photographs, and became an investigation into an understanding of phenomenological readings of site, space and place.
As part of Los Angeles Works, Moth plans to spend her time in Los Angeles exploring the Desert Research Station of CLUI. Situated in the Californian desert, this satellite station would be a base ‘to go to and depart from’ when thinking about the development of a work.
Moving away from her initial preconceived attraction of Los Angeles architecture, she intends to focus on a space that has very little architecture: the desert. This landscape provides a way to explore the possibilities of atmosphere in a reductive sense, generating a work that is not purely visual, but develops upon the feeling and sense of place the desert can create. For Moth, this also leads to an investigation of collective memory and understandings of place in relation to experiences of cinematography.
Through a process of writing, note making, sound recording, and watching of films that are specifically situated in the desert, such as westerns, she will attempt to develop a set of images that mimic these imaginary and mythic perspectives. This speculative approach would be indebted to an archive that is tailored to the mapping and use of land and architecture, providing a unique context and point of reference to explore spaces in and around CLUI.
Her research will have a second stage that involves the development of a sound track through which to look at the images generated whilst at CLUI. Moth sees this work eventually culminating in the making of a vinyl record and form of image/record sleeve publication. She would like to work with Roland Grooenbaum and Peter Fillingham in this phase by recording the playing and remembrance of guitar sound tracks in films that are triggered through looking and responding to the material revealed.
