A film about the railway line between Birmingham and Aberystwyth, a crucial artery between the industrial West Midlands and Mid and West Wales since its completion in 1863, is now showing at The Museum of Modern Art, Wales in Machynlleth.
The one hour 50 minutes long film, ‘Of time and the railway’ by Robert Davies, will run until July 31 at the museum, which is open from Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
"Exhibiting a film in the auditorium is a new departure for MOMA WALES and we hope that visitors will enjoy the experience," said Lucinda Middleton, Richard and Ann Mayou Fund curator at the museum.
‘Of time and the railway’ is about the passage of time, both literally and historically. It’s about taking a journey, but also the effect that the passage of time has on that journey. It describes a moment in the history of this landscape.”
This is a film about the journey recorded from the drivers’ cab of the train. Filmed between October, 2013 and February, 2015 on 86 different days, it has been edited into a single trip that takes in more than a year.
It captures the changing human geography adjacent to the track and a landscape that is sustained and twisted by the weather and the coming and going of the seasons. The film also represents a single day – entering Birmingham at night and leaving at dawn, going to Shrewsbury in the morning and on to Newtown and the mountains in the afternoon, before dropping down towards the sea as the sun starts to set and we reach journey’s end at Aberystwyth.
The journey starts in a landscape described and scarred by the process of industrialisation. It continues through the Black Country, the Shires and the Welsh Marches, land that has been farmed since it was settled.
It carries on through the hills of Powys, where the relationship between man and the landscape begins to change; cattle and sheep vying for space with crops. On the steeper slopes, sheep farming becomes prevalent as the train reaches its’ highest point at Talerddig, before winding down the Twymyn valley to the River Dyfi as it meanders to Machynlleth.
The journey continues along the flood plain to the open mouth of the Dyfi Estuary and the wilds of Ynys Las and Borth before arriving at the university town of Aberystwyth.
Produced with the assistance of Arriva Trains Wales and their staff, ‘the fllm opened in Aberystwyth Arts Centre in March and it is touring throughout 2015, being shown in all major galleries along the route and at five main stations. he film was partially funded by Arts Council Wales.
Robert Davies is an artist based near Aberystwyth, who studied graphic design and went on to do an MA in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1993. Since then, he has been working as an artist in London, Worcestershire and Wales.
His diverse work has included doing life size drawings of the animals of food production and racehorses, photographing the night sky in Iran and the USA, working with FIFA and the footballer Pele on their centenary project ‘The FIFA 100’, producing the book ’90 minutes’ with Richard Williams, chief sportswriter of the Guardian and doing a commission for the BAR Honda Formula 1 team.
ENDS
Notes for the Editor.
The Museum of Modern Art, Wales (MOMA, WALES) was established in 1991 alongside The Tabernacle in Machynlleth, Powys. It is owned and run by Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust which is funded by grants and public donations. Throughout the year the galleries show contemporary art, featuring leading artists from Wales, works from the growing Tabernacle Collection, and in August selected entries from the Tabernacle Art Competition. Many of the works of art are for sale.
In May 2015 "The Tannery" was opened after many years of fundraising and restoration of this historic industrial building. This contains two galleries, connected to the main building by a bridge, one of which is specifically for sculpture. This brings the number of exhibition spaces up to seven.
Contact Lucinda Middleton, Richard and Ann Mayou Fund curator lucinda@momawales.org.uk 01654 703355 or Robert Davies, can provide stills from the film hospitalbob@hotmail.com 07789 996 172
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