::: Stop Press ::: Currently showing at Barbican art gallery The Curve until 30 August.

Imogen Hammond, creative director of Drive-in, was recently invited to contribute to award-winning German filmmaker Clemens von Wedermeyer’s film installation The Fourth Wall at the Barbican Centre. Exploring ‘first contact’ situations between anthropologists, explorers and remote living peoples, this ambitious project draws together a series of eight interrelated films, each one an exploration of authenticity, fabrication and belief. As a production designer with a background in anthropology and ethnographic filmmaking, this was an refreshing opportunity to collaborate with this fascinating artist filmmaker.

Von Wedermeyer takes as his starting point the controversial Philippine group the Tasaday, the subject of which has long raised interesting questions regarding the western preoccupation with the ‘discovery’ of ancient civilisations. Stumbled upon in 1971 and revealed to the world as a ‘modern Stone Age Tribe’, it was alleged some ten years later that the group had effectively staged an elaborate hoax - displaying a theatrical credibility that shocked the world. Later authenticated by the Philippine government, the real story of the Tasaday remains a mystery.

Tellingly, the exhibition is named after the theatrical term used to describe the imaginary division between stage and stalls, whereby actors are able to imagine they are alone on stage, while the audience are enabled to believe that what they see is real.

We worked on three of the films in the series. Interspersed with documentary footage and interviews, our art department staged and set up in various locations in and around the Barbican Centre including a 28th floor flat, the conservatory and the theatre itself. We styled actors and built and dressed the sets that would embody the artist’s vision, creating the ‘fourth wall’ illusion that could effectively challenge the belief systems of a visiting audience.

Working with Imogen made a huge difference because she already had this knowledge and great understanding of the project so was able to translate my thoughts and theory into new images and give a visual reference to my intellectual thoughts about culture studies and anthropology. We had a great working relationship thanks to our common background in these subjects as well as a shared interest in the arts and film making in general.
Clemens von Wedermeyer

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