MAKE IT NEW JOHN

This film could be the unofficial counterpart of Back to the Future. The underside of the futuristic car driven by Michael J. Fox in the 1985 film. It could also be the apocryphal story of the crisis of modern capitalism. Born the son of an immigrant Romanian foundry worker, John DeLorean’s natural talent for engineering placed him at the top of General Motors. He persuaded the British Government to back a venture, building a factory in Belfast to produce a new sports car. DeLorean’s attempts to keep the factory open became increasingly desperate and corrupt and he was eventually arrested by the FBI. The factory, which employed 2,000 workers, closed a few years later, having produced just over 9,000 cars. Duncan Campbell’s film fuses original footage from the 1980s with 16mm re-enactments and documentary-style interviews to produce a masterful exploration of work alienation, economic crisis, and documentary approaches.

Duncan Campbell (Dublín, 1972) works predominantly in film and video installation. He is interested in the construction of meaning in the documentary format, as well as the ethics of representation. By using old and new footage together, Campbell breaks down and creates new narratives. Campbell’s work has been widely exhibited, with solo exhibitions at Galerie Luis Campaa, Cologne; S1 Artspace Sheffield; Manifesta 5 European Biennial of Contemporary Art, San Sebastian; and TART Contemporary, San Francisco. In 2008 Campbell was the recipient of the Baloise Art Prize. He currently lives and works in Glasgow.