9.01 The Interviews
We need to be able to see what kind of people brought
Exploding Cinema into being and committed seven or eight unpaid years of their
lives to maintaining it. As we shall see the historical precedents ascribed to
the Exploding Cinema can be evidenced as part of the formative experiences of
key members of the collective. These stories vividly illustrate historical
influences that are otherwise academic. Whether in Jenet's description of a
family slide show or Colette's accounting of going to drive-in cinemas in Cape
Town.
This set of
interviews records the Exploding Cinema collective at one point in its history
after I had joined it. It does put an emphasis on the core members at a
particular time and of course this is only a partial representation. This
problem of reduction is integral to all historicisation but is particularly
problematic with the large open collectives or networks in which I am
interested. It can only be justified by the argument that a partial view is
better than none and that this is just the beginning of a process which others
can add to.
(See illustrations
7, 8 & 9 for photo portraits)
7. Top:
Colette, Thomas & Duncan in a meeting
Bottom:
Paul & Jenet
8. Top:
Caroline
Bottom:
Duncan
9. Top:
Caroline, with Grace from My Eyes! My Eyes!
Bottom:
Clive, My Eyes! My Eyes! with Colette
I will now discuss
the content of the interviews. An examination of the content brought an unexpected
viewpoint to the surface. Firstly, it was notable that the group was in fact
very multicultural having a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. Secondly, in
relation to the oral nature of the Exploding discourses, it was interesting
to note each person's educational and class backgrounds. Thirdly, their cultural
influences often seemed to relate to aspects of the Exploding Cinema format
and echo the provenances discussed earlier in this thesis to a remarkable
degree.