My film “The Car Park Collection” is a combination of video, images and audio that depict the carpark as a “non place”. The footage was all taken in one particular carpark as I wanted to capture the same environment from different angles. Carparks are places of transition, they are not destinations in themselves. They are places of waiting, areas of the in-between where peoples cars sit silent and motionless while their owners are busy. The mood in the carpark is quite eeire and haunting. We are too preoccupied with our final destination that we are often to oblivious to notice this. When we spend a prolonged period of time in these places we are forced to reconsider them as solid locations rather then transient blank spaces. These spaces are given new meaning and purpose within the broader spectrum of our lives. The car park consists of rows and rows and levels, upon levels of cars parked side by side. The structure of the building winds round and round with each level like a mirror image of the one next before it. Its like a maze of concrete and its easy to understand why people get lost and struggle to relocate their vehicles. At times the carpark can be an empty place of stillness where you can hear every creak of the floor, crack in the plaster and drip of the drainpipes as well as the hustle and bustle of the outside world. This particular carpark was located in the centre of the CBD with much action going on around it yet the carpark itself sits there almost invisibly. All the signs in the park also enhance the hostile feeling of the environment. “No Standing” “No Parking” “No Exit” “Reserved”, these all create boundaries and limitations that are exclusive and shut off the outside world. The environment is clinical and hostile but at the same time calming and peaceful. It is a very urban setting with concrete, pavement, bricks, pipes, metal beams, fluorescent lights and monochromatic greys, blacks and whites. In my piece I chose to focus on a few key elements that comprise the carpark, these include ‘the levels, the textures, the corners, the lines, the windows, the view, the stairs and the exit’, all defining and unique elements to a car park. I wanted to keep my piece all with a similar, minimalistic aesthetic to highlight the simplicity and practicality of the carpark. I grouped my images accordingly and broke up each division using footage that captures the movement in the carpark. I like the unique shadows and lines that the cars make as they undertake their patterned and repetitive journey up the ramps. My final shot is taken from inside the carpark looking out. The low key lighting inside the carpark juxtaposes the bright and blown out light beaming in from the streets creating the effect that the carpark is the waiting place but the destination is the bright and busy outside world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJCX3rOSFfs