Sam Williams

Common Ground is a film commissioned by the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first conversations with artists at the site, whose proposals became the Sculpture Trail. The film delves into the history of the Trail, offering insights into the conversations between the early artists who created its first sculptures.

In the present day, a story is unearthed of a whale body that became a world of dinner parties, clandestine sex and mayoral speeches. In a possible future, a group of those-who-were-left-behind (or, those-who-chose-to-stay) have made a home inside the body of a whale. They find themselves contemplating this new world and speculating on the state of things outside – a world ravaged by a climate crisis which they survived by turning to the ocean. At a crossing between the present day and this potential future, a lone figure sings a lament for the body of the world’s last whale.

Sam Williams's video collage coils its way through the gallery across seven monitors rooted to the ground. The work is an assemblage of research material: footage from university labs and the archives of the Natural History Museum; records of Darwin's experiments with earthworms at Down House; images of worms in art and popular culture; and myriad other annelid imagery. Two choreographies move through all of this: one is a text that moves linguistically through soil horizons. The other is movement material showing tasks enacted by a lone performer working with rope. The body casts, crawls and turns, flattening and coiling, continuously without acknowledgement. This is an experiment in embodying the worm as an image - in exploring softness, resilience strength and hidden labour.

"See What I See" is a documentary portrait of Norwegian artist, educator and collector Guttorm Guttormsgaard and his eclectic archive of art, craft, books and ephemera. Guttormsgaard recounts his thoughts on collecting, vision, art and place to filmmaker Sam Williams at home amongst his collection in the small town of Blaker, Norway. Through snippets of dialogue and layered imagery, the film becomes a conversation between the director, Guttormsgaard and the countless objects in the collection. Guttormsgaard passed away shortly after the conversation and this touching portrait offers a unique insight into his world.