Synopsis of the video work

Piecing it together - an investigation into experiential and scientific/rational knowledge in relation to the Scene of the Crime

In this presentation artists Salomé Voegelin and Helen Bendon will present their ongoing investigation into representations of the crime scene. These artists are currently working on an extensive body of new collaborative work combining their skills, experience and conceptual concerns in video, sound art and photography.

This particular work deals with forensic investigations of a crime scene, considering both, the factual account of forensic science (working with the UK national police training centre Centrex) as well as the cinematic and televisual conventions of its presentation. These almost polarised representations draw attention to the notion of forensics as an exact science in juxtaposition to ideas around the experiential knowledge invested in art practice. The new body of work produced for this presentation restages a crime scene from the point of view of the victim; borrowing from the conventions of the scientific investigation of forensic photography, whilst ‘falsifying’ and rendering ambiguous this scientific knowledge through the production of an actual and material narrative, leaning on the aesthetic conventions of the crime genre.

This particular project touches upon ideas of practice through both process and content. During the presentation the artists will discuss their research and development in relation to this work, talking specifically about process and intuitive knowledge as creative practitioners and how this informs the production of work.