Fugitive Images is the collaborative practice of Andrea Luka Zimmerman and Lasse Johansson.
This artist collaboration grew out of a desire by the artists to
capture the peculiar moment of the place where they live and work
immediately prior to it being demolished. Haggerston Estate is
suspended somewhere between it first being occupied in the 1930's
and imminent demolition in 2009 (second phase of demoloition is in
2012), a place in transformation, in wait.
We recognize that working directly with specific contexts requires
a set of artistic practices distinct from those emerging out of the
studio and gallery nexus. Outside of the highly controlled
narrative environment of the white cube and exposed to a multitude
of social, economic and political forces it is no longer possible
to maintain the illusion of being in control of context. We
recognize that we are neither the sole originators of meaning nor
interpretation but rather an interlocutor in ongoing dialogue with
the context we are working within.
Andrea explores, though filmmaking, text and photography, the grey zones between public and private memory. Working at the intersection between documentary and fiction, her practice aims to explore the production of history and everyday life within it. She was a founding member of Vision Machine (2001) which made, influenced by the methodology and thoughts of Jean Rouch, Miles Horton and Paolo Freire, "The Globalisation Tapes", numerous shorter experimental films and gallery works as well as interventions in public space. She has recently completed "Prisoner of War", a feature length documentary, which is about a special forces commander whose life inspired the Rambo films [85mins, 2012]. She made, in collaboration with Lasse Johansson and Tristan Fennell, the public art installation "i am here" [2009-2012] and the book "Estate" [Myrdle Court Press,2010].
Andrea has run film workshops for over a decade, also in secondary schools and colleges, and lectures at the University of the Arts London [Performative Arts, CSM and Contextual Studies, WCA], and Brunel University [MA documentary].
Lasse works with film, photography and installation. Since graduating from Chelsea College of Art in 2001 he has explored issues around the formation of public spaces and the identities they give rise to. İn 2002 he co-curated the public art exhibition Conetmplation Room at Gallery Overgaden, in Copenhagen together with Cecilie Gravesen and Kristine Agergaard. He has developed a prototype vertical garden to be used as a social sculpture on inner city estates with no access to cultivatable land. İn 2008 he completed an MA in Photography and Urban Culture at Goldsmıths University. His most recent works include the short film Bruce & I and the public art installation i am here and Estate, which he made in collaboration with Andrea and Tristan. He is currently collaborating with Andrea developing a film about Haggerston West & Kingsland Estate, which is part of their ongoing estate project.
Lasse has run community film workshops, and several doc in a day workshops, in schools and colleges. He is a visiting teacher at the University of the Arts London, and guest lecturer at Goldsmiths college.