Sarah Pickering’s project – Public Order, gives us an uncomfortable reality check on modern social structure. I admit to being unsettled at first view, not because of the images per se but because of the underlying undercurrent of well-practiced state control. The sparseness of her images, often strewn with debris, devoid of human content, gives the impression of a ghost town that has been at the sharp end of something rather sinister. The sombre colour aesthetic further enhances feelings of tension.
When absorbing the context of the images, my feelings are further solidified. The fact that this is a place to drill and drill again the practice of crowd control underlines my feelings of the states potential to abuse its power. I am able to visualise the possible scenarios being played out within the confines of the space. I know there is a need to be able to disperse the unruly mass, but I can’t get away from the fact that protest is often borne from injustice. This work ensures that I reflect on society and state.
For me, this is undoubtedly a very effective use of documentary. The work shows us a place that is not familiar and reveals it to us in incremental steps. We have to engage with it more to understand it, it provokes us to think. I think it is much more effective than work that is laid on a platter.
Pickering, Victoria Street, 2002.
Bibliography
Sarahpickering.co.uk. (2019). Sarah Pickering. [online] Available at: https://www.sarahpickering.co.uk/Works/Pulic-Order/workpg-04.html [Accessed 13 Aug. 2019].
Context and Narrative 