Time and Place - Restorations

Magic Torch have long been fans of the band British Sea Power, and so we were absolutely delighted when they agreed to work with us on our Time and Place project to create an exhibition for The Dutch Gable House.

For this part of the project we wanted to take old footage of the town, some of which people may be familiar with, and use it to tell a slightly different story about some of what the town has lost, both positively and negatively, in the name of progress and regeneration. The main footage we have used comes from Greenock Plans Ahead, which many local history and heritage buffs will be familiar with. Primarily using a high quality version of the footage from Greenock Plans Ahead, sourced directly from Scottish Screen Archive, local historian, folk singer and general Renaissance Man, Louie Pastore, has edited the footage into something new to accompany two specially created pieces of music from British Sea Power.

The short film with exclusively recorded soundtrack, will be premiered in The Dutch Gable House in the autumn as part of an installation there. For now, here's a very brief glimpse of what to expect.



Do check out more from British Sea Power, here's just a wee taster below...

Here's a clip from the wonderful From The Sea To The Land Beyond



And here's the band's classic No Lucifer




Just a wee disclaimer though - in these increasingly exciting and polarised times in Scotland, something as straightforward as a band's name can be seen as a political statement. Well in this context, it isn't. As we've said before, Torch involve a broad mix of folks, from archivists to anarchists, atheists to devout catholics and Yes supporters and those who say No Thanks. We'll all be voting in our own ways, with our own hopes in September, and so the reason we've involved the band British Sea Power, is because we really like their music. Just so everyone's clear. Sheesh.