Visions of Paradise

2021, Super 8 with HD video, 3D animation and vintage archive transferred to HD, 16:59

0:00

 / 

0:00

Visions of Paradise is a film and digital animation by Shezad Dawood hosted within a site-responsive sculpture on permanent display outside The White House on Becontree Estate. The work’s title alludes to a description of the estate during the Ford Factory era as a ‘working-class paradise’ (Reuters, 2019). Dawood at once references and departs from a dream-like, visionary paradise by juxtaposing multiple filmic textures: from archive material, to clips contributed by community members and new Super 8 footage shot by Dawood in Becontree during the Covid-19 pandemic. The sculpture borrows its appearance from ancient Neolithic standing stones, referencing Dagenham as a site of archaeological interest, and connecting its pre-industrial past with its current residents’ sense of place.

The digital animation is populated by historical and contemporary Becontree symbols including the Ford Capri, the Dagenham Idol and pink flamingos that famously once inhabited one of the area’s parks. These sit alongside icons meaningful to the diverse communities that make up a more recent Becontree – such as the Lithuanian stork, or the Nigerian amunututu vegetable – and deeply personal objects that range from drumsticks, to a hot sauce bottle and a toy bear, highlighted to Dawood in his conversations with local residents. Find out more here.

Shezad Dawood, Visions of Paradise, 2021. Super 8 with HD video, 3D animation and vintage archive transferred to HD, 16'59''. Commissioned by Create London, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The work sits within Becontree Forever: a programme of art, architecture and infrastructure to mark the centenary of the estate. Courtesy of the artist and UBIK Productions.

Writer and Director

Shezad Dawood

Producer

Inês Geraldes Cardoso

Editor

Sergio Vega Borrego

Animation

Vilja Achté

Soundtrack

patten

Titles

Fraser Muggeridge studio

Commissioner

Create London

Support

National Lottery Heritage Fund

With special thanks to the members of the Becontree community who contributed to the project

Anthony McKernan

Baylea Burgess-Michaels-Hayter

Bill Jennings

Box Up Crime

Catherina Rowland

Catherine Rothschild

David Bennett

Ellie Clark

Ethan Mafumo

Griffi

Jacob Schwar

Julie Pacsa

Kyla Douglas

Liam Scully

Miro Tomarkin

Rezija Samoska

Rudy Pacsa

Tanis Newall

Ula Sakr