SlipStream

Peckham Space presents SlipStream, a specially commissioned film from artist David Cotterrell, which maps social, geographical and personal histories of North Peckham. It takes North Peckham residents’ narratives of how their landscape has changed over the last 30 years as its starting point.

SlipStream is partially filmed from the air using a specially-constructed aerial drone and presented as a two screen installation. The camera swoops from ground-level to lofty heights tracking these parallel, remembered journeys from the air in a series of ‘fly-throughs’, exploring airspace previously occupied by buildings and relaying back lost views of Peckham and the wider area. This filmic journey layers and combines found footage as well as photographic and printed material supplied by the participants. It maps architectural changes and overlays memories of individuals, exploring what residents have expressed as a ‘missing identity’ for the area.

For this commission, Peckham Space worked with the Evolution Quarter Residents Association (EQRA) to draft a brief and select an artist to work with residents to produce a non-representative artwork which explored the theme of identity and place.

Meriam Wilson, Communications Officer of EQRA said: “We were immediately really excited by David Cotterrell’s vision for this project, as his sense of enthusiasm at cutting-edge technology was infectious. He has an understated but charismatic charm that I knew would go down well with local residents not used to being asked for their stories. Best of all, he was prepared to create something very specific and relevant to our tiny, misunderstood part of London. Something that could, quite literally, make our memories and dreams fly”.