Mark Lewis exhibition "Peeping Tom"
A belated account of the Mark Lewis exhibition "Peeping Tom" which I
eventually managed to see in Sheffield the other week.
It's described as a "large-scale projection work" - in other words a short
(no more than five minutes running time) video projected on to a large screen.
In essence it consists of recreations of the 8mm footage shot by "Mark Lewis"
in PT. Some of these will be gfamiliar to P&P enthusiasts - the opening
sequence with the prostitute, for example. Other sequences we see being
filmed by "Mark Lewis" but don't actually see in PT - there's a shot taken
from the lighting gantry in the film studio, and a (relatively) longish
sequence showing the prostitute's body being carried out of Newman Passage.
(This bit includes the chap who wanders up to "Mark Lewis" whilst he's filming
and asks which newspaper is he from).
And finally there are sequences which show scenes from PT but filmed through
"Mark Lewis's" camera, providing a different angle. The most elaborate of
these is the final scene in PT with "Mark Lewis" impaling himself on his
own tripod - you actually see him run towards the camera.
So it's quite an original and intriguing exhibition/"projection", but I'd
recommend that you have a look at PT prior to going to view it (The exhibition
is now on tour so guess it will make the metropolis at some point). The
recreations are very good, although not all the faces match the originals.
Terry Hanstock
