1992 16mm Umatic 4m 10m

When Orbital presented their idea of hands washing up with Orbital liquid, my first question was whose hands? We then developed the story based on the experiences of many mother’s and housewives taking the prescription tranquiliser Halcyon.

I remember watching Repulsion and Psycho and All that Heaven allows.

The cameraman suggested 16mm color reversal for an old fashioned colour saturation. We cast Phil Hartnoll’s children and the singer Kirsty Hawkshaw from Opus 3 whose voice is sampled and played backwards on the track. I imagined a quite psychotic drug induced moment where she is trying to cleanse away to be free but there is no escape It all just came together.while the relentlessly sweet and backward playing music trances her odyssey.

I loved working with Orbital and Sally Harding the art director who designed the facial crockery and Laurence Knight and David Spare who created the Home and away graphic.

James Whitehorn edited on umatic and hired the suite to my flat so that I could be home for my son, what a star.

published in the catalogue for The British School at Rome contemporaty arts programme ART MUSIC AND VIDEO IN THE UK VIDEOVIBE 2000