TITLE: ACTION SPACE, 86′
DIRECTOR: Huw Wahl
PRODUCERS: Huw Wahl, Amanda Ravetz
KEY CAST: Ken Turner, Mary Turner, Caroline Bagnall, Rick Harper, Theo Tanser, Jason Turner, Johan Siebers, Alan Nisbet, Ken Worpole
SOUND DESIGN: Simon Connor
MUSIC: AMM (eddie Prevost and John Tilbury), Phil Minton, Action Space Archive
OVERVIEW: Founded by my father Ken Turner and his wife Mary Turner in 1968, Action Space used large interactive inflatable structures to create interventions into public spaces. By bringing together artists, performers, dancers, painters and musicians, the movement sought to produce cultural democratic spaces for art, education and creative play outside of the restrictive gallery system elite. This film looks at the years between ’68 and ’78, exploring contemporary and pertinent issues around public/private space, individual/collective creativity, community and responsibility, emancipation and play. Featuring archive footage alongside discussions with key members of the movement, present-day writers and theorists, it uses the construction of a new inflatable to bring these arguments into the contemporary realm. This is the story of an emancipatory art movement told through a personal lens.
MANCHESTER, UK, 2016