Format
Factory
International Photography Festival
Paperback
128 pages
ISBN: 0955353874
fac·to·ry
Noun:
- A building or buildings where goods are manufactured or assembled.
- A person, group, or institution that produces a great quantity of something.
The theme of FORMAT13 centres on the FACTORY and mass production. This can be understood literally and creatively in terms of process and the transformation of material, live site of production, the products, workers, analogue process, and documentary and so on. We are open to your ideas.
Derby, the city where FORMAT is based, holds a significant World Heritage Status as the birthplace of mass production and the world’s first factory. This world affecting phenomenon of mechanised production on mass was one of the factors responsible for timed working life, urbanization, mass production on all scales and the creation of industrial economies. It also sparked the movement towards socialism, unions, futurism and constructivism during the industrial revolution.
Artists throughout time have reacted to the fast pace of change involved with the mechanisation of life. Today, the art of automation is no longer confined to manufacturing industries but has seeped into every aspect of our daily living. A factory is still a space for production, a space of exploitation. At the same time, it has changed almost beyond recognition. The typical setup of the factory was a industrial workplace where many parts, created on or off site, come together to eventually make a whole product; this remains the case in many countries. Yet now people also spend their time in front of computer monitors orchestrating from afar, with the touch of a button.
The festival theme focuses on several aspects of factory and working life such as automation, live to work/work to live, the products and impacts of factories, communicated through exhibitions, performances and related programmes encompassing an eclectic array of genres, concerns and aesthetics.
Through eyes of the greatest image makers of today and tomorrow FORMAT13 explores the global effects and impacts, celebrates the innovations and achievements, and discovers the complex relationship between the worker and the machine throughout time. FACTORY offers festival visitors a diverse, imaginative, dynamic, poignant and fascinating view on the phenomenon of mechanized industry, work and its impact on our lives.
