We Cannot Unsee is a new and exciting collaborative project with no.w.here, BFI, University of the Arts London, and King’s College, and has been generously funded by the Wellcome Trust. 

We Cannot Unsee will commission 6 London based emerging artists* to make a short, experimental films supported by no.w.here, a visual research and development laboratory for artists. The work can draw upon the potentials for science ­fiction imagery and narrative to communicate the ways in which people experience a range of symptoms associated with psychiatric and brain disorders. The project will also seek input from those who experience such symptoms first hand. 

By working with the medium of film, a visual form which offers alternative nonlinear, non - verbal impressionistic ways to convey lived experience, ­We Cannot Unsee aims to deepen our understanding of symptoms associated with patho-psychologies, and reassign agency to those who experience them. 

The project takes its title from the description of ‘Palinopsia’, a condition whereby afterimages appear to linger in the mind after they have been seen. 

The project will provide:

• Practical training in the use of film as a medium, as well as cameras, equipment, and resources housed at no.w.here 

• Black and white 16mm film stock 

• Dedicated access to no.w.here’s production space, as well as the darkroom and laboratory to explore chemical, mechanical, and optical techniques. 

• Creative and technical mentoring from James Holcombe, artist 

and no.w.here lab manager. 

• HD telecine of works for use in digital post-production. 

• A pack of texts and links to works online, as well as a guide to 

resources and handouts for cameras / the darkroom. 

• There is a stipend of £117 available towards travel and food 

costs over the project duration. 

Project timeline:

• 31st December: Applications close at 5pm. Successful applicants will be notified on the 8th January 2015. 

• 14th - 16th January inclusive: Creative film workshops at no.w.here, Bolex 16mm camera, and hand processing techniques and optical devices in response to texts. 

• 21st January: Screening of rushes at BFI with scientists from 

King’s College, no.w.here and BFI. 

• February 11th - 13th / 25th - 27th / 4th and 6th of March 

Practical lab sessions / shooting on and off-­site at no.w.here. 

• In early March films will be telecined to HD at I-Dailies. 

• 25th March: Deadline for digital material to be submitted to BFI. 

• April: (date tbc) Public screening of work at the BFI, and online 

launch of work no.w.here website. 

Films made will be screened to the general public at BFI Southbank, made available to other venues to screen (including exhibition spaces at Kings College and no.w.here), exhibited online and distributed on DVD. 

To apply:

Please submit via email a statement of no more than 1,000 words outlining why you feel that this project would benefit your practice and the development of your ideas, along with examples of your recent work to: james.holcombe@no­w­here.org.uk 

Get more information here.