People even now, in the 21st century, are forced, due to geopolitical events beyond their control, to leave their home for fear of their lives. Others move to find a new home elsewhere, perhaps more suited to them, or to escape a kind of stagnation in their current circumstances, a need for new horizons and possibilities, searching for a catalyst to kick start some new development or inner growth. Sometimes home doesn’t feel like home anymore. Sometimes, the image of home takes on mythic proportions, inspiring intense nostalgic reveries, which crystallise all the more when circumstances prevent one from returning, a home out of reach; an image of home that can only exist in the imagination. Nowadays, more than ever before, our identity is less formed by the physical circumstances around us, we receive stimulus that resonate within us from all around this globalised world through the miracle of mass media and the internet, we are exposed to more and more ideas, more and more possibilities, fragments of possibilities and potential paths, perhaps too much for us to digest, reflect on and assimilate. Cultural elements, such as tastes, behaviours and concerns are diffused throughout the globe, diluted and distorted, to suit the receiver's ends. We all absorb our own blend of elements from different cultures, driving us forward in one direction or another, inspiring us to move, physically and psychically to search out our tribe. But each place, whether we are leaving or arriving, has its own subtle non-negotiable character, beneath the identity we impose on it, that becomes part of us, and we carry it with us.
In Strangelove’s Spring Online Programme, you will find an eclectic range of films and videos, that talk of place; real and imaginary, and displacement; physical and existential.