Jodi Henna Jul (13min)

“Stories are the means by which we navigate the world. They allow us to interpret its complex and contradictory signals. We all possess a narrative instinct: an innate disposition to listen for an account of who we are and where we stand.”
George Monboit

Artist Lindsay Perth re-edits the last film to be shown at The Victory Cinema in Portobello when it closed in 1956. The Victory Cinema – previously called The Bungalow Electric Theatre until 1942 – was on the site where Perth’s home now stands. The film, ‘John and Julie’ is the story of two children who run away from home to see the Coronation in London. This road movie format is full of innocence and nostalgia for more simpler times. Perth reshapes the film’s narrative into something much more unsettling and defective. This ‘updated’ story becomes more distorted as it unfolds with visual patterns, glitches and loops. As the initially subtle disruptions increase, Perth’s version dismantles the innocence and embraces a more contemporary chaos.