Maps & Networking - Derek Jarman's, 'Blue'

Derek Jarman was a director and cinematographer who was born in London, England in 1942. One of Jarman's later pieces of work was his film 'Blue' (1993). The origin behind this film is what I find most interesting. A year before creating Blue, Derek Jarman was sadly diagnosed with AIDS, with would eventually cost him his life. In 1974, after seeing a monochrome painting by Yves Klein (whom I have talked about previously on my blog) at the Tate gallery, Jarman was inspired to make a ‘blue film’ dedicated to the French artist. Diagnosed as HIV positive in 1986, Jarman returned to his ‘blue film’ idea when he started losing his sight, and medication was causing him to see as if through a blue filter; Some say that blue was the last colour he saw before he went completely blind.The script was recited by actors and by Jarman himself, it alternates poetry and narrative prose around different meanings and interpretations of the colour blue (melancholy, water, infinity, etc.), autobiographical episodes and invocations to a character called Blue.

The reason why I have included this film in my research is because 'Blue' is a film that completely depends on all senses apart from sight, much like my idea that I want to further. After 'watching' Blue, I can definitely say that it really makes you paint a picture in your mind as to what's happening in the film through only listening to the sound of it. This is exactly what I'm aiming to do with my idea; When my subjects put on their blindfolds and headphones, I want them to be completely engulfed in their chosen song and really get what they feel in their mind onto the paper.