SWANDOWN
2012 - 90 Minutes

FILM, INSTALLATION & BOOKWORK
BY ANDREW KÖTTING with IAIN SINCLAIR            

www.swandown.info  
Swandown records the voyage of two men – film-maker/artist Andrew Kötting, and writer/novelist / psychogeographer Iain Sinclair – as they set out by water, from England’s South Coast to the edges of London. Starting from a seaside funfair in Hastings, the two men make their intrepid way by sea, river and canal to Hackney in East London - powered by vision, determination and sheer legwork, on the back of ‘Edith’, a swan-shaped pedalo. En route, they meet river and canal dwellers, listen to the ambient echoes of British culture (historical, literary, political) and tune in – like “flesh radios”, as Sinclair says, channeling the cultural unconscious – to the secret voices of England today and yesterday.
They drank 84 litres of water, 2 bottles of whisky, 4 bottles of wine and 24 cans of special brew. They got through 8 pairs of sunglasses, a handmade suit, a pair of walking boots and a camper van. Andrew Kötting wore the same clothes throughout. Iain Sinclair was changed regularly.
“So winds from sternward Bore us out onward with bellying canvas, Circe’s this craft, the trim-coifed goddess.Then sat we amidships, wind jamming the tiller, Thus with stretched sail, we went over sea till day’s end Sun to his slumber, shadows o’er all the ocean….”

CREDITS

Produced by Lisa Marie Russo and Fly Film
Writings and Plottings by Andrew Kötting & Iain Sinclair
Executive Producers: Kate Ogborn  & Marc Munden
Line Producer: Simon Onwurah
Director of Photography: Nick Gordon Smith
Second Camera, Stills & Pinhole Photographer: Anonymous Bosch
Editor: Cliff West
Music: Jem Finer
Sound Design & Audio Engineer: Philippe Ciompi

COLLECTIONS

Cornerhouse – Manchester – UK
ED Distribution - Paris - France