MAGIC PARTY PLACE (film)

MAGIC PARTY PLACE by CJ Clarke maps the psychopathology of the suburb, investigating a community which occupies the mainstream of society yet perceive themselves to have been pushed to the margins. The work does this by journeying deep into the new town of Basildon a constructed community, located 25 miles east of London. The town is statistically average and socially conservative. Initially published as a photo book in 2016, the work traces the internal landscapes of it’s inhabitants, the installation identities a narrative of social and political dislocation within the towns sprawling and stratified housing estates. Through the prism of the post-industrial English landscape, the work identifies the roots of Brexit and the rise of the right in western societies. In collaboration with Channel 4 news, and in the wake of Brexit, CJ Clarke traveled back to Basildon to sense the mood of the nation.