Taking pictures of people taking pictures of
Art, Smartphones and Society of the Spectacle
£16.99
'Taking pictures of people taking pictures of..'
is a social and artistic critique of contemporary culture, particularly the way smartphones and social media contribute to Guy Debord's concept of 'The Society of the Spectacle'. It highlights a modern obsession with representation and appearance over authentic, direct experience, 'The Spectacle' and the social capital manifested through the 'Van Gogh selfie'.
Using only a cheap compact camera or mobile phone himself, Fielding explores the relationship between patron and canvas, prescribed gallery art, technology and the public's interaction with it. In the process, Fielding produces a new unseen art..
The Public's commodification of experience:
An original artwork's value shifts from its intrinsic artistic merit to its potential as a status symbol or 'social capital' when shared online (eg, The Van Gogh selfie)The experience of seeing art becomes a commodity to be consumed and displayed.
Inspired by the photography of Siskind, and the Czech avant-garde photographers, this remarkable publication looks at the concept of recycling and creating a 'new' art through the very existence of galleries and it's spectacle obsessed public.
MiE Fielding stalks the stuffy and elitist world of curated art.
Available April 2026
Taking pictures of people taking pictures of...
The Closest Thing To Heaven
'The Closest Thing to Heaven' is a unique photographic record of the Newcastle music scene in the 1970s and 80s. Featuring a mixture of professional and amateur photos capturing the energy and DIY ethos of the bands and artists that played to the city’s loyal crowds. Despite the many social upheavals and economic recession in Britain d
'The Closest Thing to Heaven' is a unique photographic record of the Newcastle music scene in the 1970s and 80s. Featuring a mixture of professional and amateur photos capturing the energy and DIY ethos of the bands and artists that played to the city’s loyal crowds. Despite the many social upheavals and economic recession in Britain during this period, there were still people keen to go out any night of the week. The atmosphere of this scene is captured by many of the shots taken from within the crowd of local bands such as Prefab Sprout, The Kane Gang and Arthur 2 Stroke. As well as the music, this book features some of the important venues, labels, art and people that were a major part of Newcastle’s music culture at this time. Covering various genres including post punk and electronic music, as well as more traditional rock, this photo book will bring back memories of a carefree youth that for some was ‘The Closest Thing to Heaven'.
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HALBERSTADT 2 /ASLSP
This composition consists of a field recording made at Burchardi church in Halberstadt (Germany) in July 2024 and is the most recent note from the John Cage ORGAN2/ASLSP project.
As with Cage's instruction for the original ASLSP , I have produced eight interjecting pieces here with one ommited and another repeated,based upon Cage's prepar
This composition consists of a field recording made at Burchardi church in Halberstadt (Germany) in July 2024 and is the most recent note from the John Cage ORGAN2/ASLSP project.
As with Cage's instruction for the original ASLSP , I have produced eight interjecting pieces here with one ommited and another repeated,based upon Cage's prepared piano, although each interjection is in fact the original field recording manipulated.
I'm aiming to portray my impression of this beautiful City with the juxtaposition of Halberstadt's terrible history, much of it still visible today.
Halberstadt's synagogue was ransacked and burned in the 9 November 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom. The synagogue's Torah scrolls were removed and burned in the street. On 18 November 1938, the Nazi's ordered the demolition of the synagogue and required the Jewish community to pay the cost of the work.
Only 450 of 1600 timber framed houses survive in the city centre.In April 1945, US forces approached Halberstadt as they attacked the remaining Nazi troops in the Harz pocket. The US dropped leaflets instructing Halberstadt's Nazi ruler to fly a white flag on the town hall as a token of surrender.He refused, and on 8 April 1945, the US 8th Air Force, dropped 595 tons of bombs, killing 2,500 people and rendering most of the old town into some 1.5 million cubic meters of rubble.Find out more here
Ill Health Forces Sale
Ill Health Forces Sale
Sound constructed from field recordings at two churches.Cartmel Priory in the Lake District UK and St. Catherine of Alexandria Krakow Poland.At this latter location there is the resonating sound of coins being inserted into a metal box in order for candles to be purchased.They are then lit, perhaps in memory of a loved one.
Poetry by MiE
Sound constructed from field recordings at two churches.Cartmel Priory in the Lake District UK and St. Catherine of Alexandria Krakow Poland.At this latter location there is the resonating sound of coins being inserted into a metal box in order for candles to be purchased.They are then lit, perhaps in memory of a loved one.
Poetry by MiE Fielding. Mixed for headphones.Find out more here
An old man of failing health
surveys a box of motorbike parts
and remembers days when he didn't ache
Ill health forces sale
He now won't and never would have got the time
Ill health forces sale
His life in the box lies incomplete
As the doctor says It's not good news
From his advert gleefully answered by a younger bloke
The box of rusting parts is bought
In this box there lies HIS youth
A chance to apply a break on time
Now ten years pass and alas the box of parts still lie
A young man puts out an ad
"My dad never got the time"
An old man calls
" I'll take the lot and roll back the years"
But the time never came as once again
Ill health forces sale