‘Here Is Where We Were’ (H.I.W.W.W.) is an ongoing project, presented only on Instagram.

I post 15 second portraits of artists I meet, on an account called @here_is_where_we_were (click to access) ****LAUNCHING MAY 2025****

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When I meet an artist, I am obliged to ask if they will be part of this project. (The ‘obligation’ is self-imposed. I live with a range of these little ‘obligations’ which I employ to produce different series of works. I envision this particular project/obligation will go on until I can no longer physically continue.)

It’s not always appropriate or polite to ask, but if I think it is acceptable, then I do so. I tell them I am working on a project where I film an artist looking into my camera phone for 15 seconds. And it’s 15 seconds, I say, as a reduction down from Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame - and as an echo of his screen tests. I tell them that the film will join other films of artists on an Instagram channel that is made up only of these films. Some people say no at this point and that’s ok.  

I say that the filming will take place where we are now (so these films are mostly taken at private views, art events, openings, art fairs, installations, over drinks, chats, etc) and they can choose a background if they wish. My instruction is always the same – just look into the camera here (I point to the lenses on the phone) and I’ll film for 15 seconds. Some people ask if me if I want them to speak or do anything and I reply that I just want them to look into the camera. I don’t try and labour this point, and people do with this instruction what they like. Some stay incredibly still, others laugh, or stifle laughter, remove glasses, put on glasses, adjust hats, or speak, or twitch, or pull faces, go cross-eyed or whatever. It is all the same to me. While I am filming, I try to remain impassive so as not to influence them.

When the film has been completed, I ask if they want to see it or not. Some like to see it (most are happy with – or at least resigned to - how they look). Some ask if we can redo it (we can). Others don’t want to see it.

I explain that they will receive a notification when the portrait gets posted on Instagram and, once they’ve seen it, still have the option to delete it if they aren’t happy (I’ve no desire to make work that upsets people). That's it. Sometimes there are more questions: why am I doing this? What’s it about? Have I filmed myself?

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Here are some answers - and further thoughts.

 

As an artist, a significant part of what you do is networking - fostering connections, building community, supporting fellow artists.

This project is a representation of that network. It’s a world I feel part of (even if I don’t always feel welcome in it). It’s my life choice. I wanted to be part of the artworld (or part of an artworld – it’s a tricky thing to define). It’s the world I feel most comfortable in, a world I understand.

The project is a record of meetings, moments – 15 seconds in which we shared the same space. A record, a document, a love letter to the artworld in which I have spent my life.

It uses social media (Instagram) as it’s medium. 15 seconds is a short time in life (maybe some of the artists who were filmed might disagree) but a long time on social media, where pressure is on to capture an audience within the first 1 or 2 seconds. These films intentionally do as little as possible, carving out a small piece of the online world with stillness and reflection. It will remain on Instagram for as long as Instagram lasts. It isn’t designed to garner followers or likes or comments. It’s there as a document of my time – and the time of many others - in the artworld.

I think of it (as I do all my work) as a self-portrait in fragmented parts. I don’t appear as a 15 second film in the project as I am in all of the films. I am here, initiating, filming, trying to hold the camera still. There are moments when the camera is moving and I realise that this is my pulse, my heartbeat, making the camera move. I am here. We were here.