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AUG25 OFF SEASON Jaydon Martin
Off-Season offers an exploration of a British seaside town during the winter season, where the vitality of summer has dissipated, leaving behind an atmosphere imbued with melancholy and spectral quietude. Through its observational lens, the projection renders the town as both a physical and metaphorical space in transition, where the rhythms of daily life for its remaining inhabitants echo the pervasive stillness of their surroundings.
Deftly examining the cultural and socio-economic erosion of modern day Britain, capturing the physical and symbolic decay of a once-thriving locus of national identity. It interrogates the tension between nostalgia and modernity, positioning the town as a microcosm of broader societal shifts. The imagery reveals a nation grappling with the aftershocks of its imperial past, now overshadowed by contemporary uncertainties and the hollowed-out promises of neoliberalism.
The depiction of labour is particularly evocative, illustrating the Sisyphean toil of elderly day labourers engaged in repetitive, physically taxing work for minimal recompense. The relentless churn of the cement mixer becomes an aural metaphor for the inescapable cycles of monotony and futility that define their existence.
The collapse of traditional rituals and cultural practices are supplanted by commodified markers of identity. Replacing these waning traditions with pop-cultural icons. At the centre of the piece is Darren ’Graceland‘ Jones, a former steel worker turned day labourer, who periodically escapes his drudgery by transforming into Elvis. This fleeting metamorphosis elevates him to a quasi-divine status, exposing both the deep yearning for transcendence and the fragility of identity in a post-industrial context. His performance underscores the precariousness of the facades individuals construct to navigate a reality characterised.
Jaydon Martin is a multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker whose practice draws upon the exploration of maligned cultures, mundane existence and spiritual modernity. Working class expression is at the forefront of his work. Creating a sincere portrait of a community often discarded or politically commandeered. Blending documentary with fiction to mine the universal longing for human connection.
Martin’s films have screened internationally at festivals, including at International Film Festival Rotterdam, Warsaw International Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival & Melbourne International Film Festival and has received a Special Jury Prize at IFFR and the Black Magic Innovation Award at MIFF. His work has been written about in publications including The Guardian, Variety, Screen Daily, Criterion, Sight and Sound’s Weekly Film Bulletin & The Monthly.
AUG25 OFF SEASON Jaydon Martin
Off-Season offers an exploration of a British seaside town during the winter season, where the vitality of summer has dissipated, leaving behind an atmosphere imbued with melancholy and spectral quietude. Through its observational lens, the projection renders the town as both a physical and metaphorical space in transition, where the rhythms of daily life for its remaining inhabitants echo the pervasive stillness of their surroundings.
Deftly examining the cultural and socio-economic erosion of modern day Britain, capturing the physical and symbolic decay of a once-thriving locus of national identity. It interrogates the tension between nostalgia and modernity, positioning the town as a microcosm of broader societal shifts. The imagery reveals a nation grappling with the aftershocks of its imperial past, now overshadowed by contemporary uncertainties and the hollowed-out promises of neoliberalism.
The depiction of labour is particularly evocative, illustrating the Sisyphean toil of elderly day labourers engaged in repetitive, physically taxing work for minimal recompense. The relentless churn of the cement mixer becomes an aural metaphor for the inescapable cycles of monotony and futility that define their existence.
The collapse of traditional rituals and cultural practices are supplanted by commodified markers of identity. Replacing these waning traditions with pop-cultural icons. At the centre of the piece is Darren ’Graceland‘ Jones, a former steel worker turned day labourer, who periodically escapes his drudgery by transforming into Elvis. This fleeting metamorphosis elevates him to a quasi-divine status, exposing both the deep yearning for transcendence and the fragility of identity in a post-industrial context. His performance underscores the precariousness of the facades individuals construct to navigate a reality characterised.
Jaydon Martin is a multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker whose practice draws upon the exploration of maligned cultures, mundane existence and spiritual modernity. Working class expression is at the forefront of his work. Creating a sincere portrait of a community often discarded or politically commandeered. Blending documentary with fiction to mine the universal longing for human connection.
Martin’s films have screened internationally at festivals, including at International Film Festival Rotterdam, Warsaw International Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival & Melbourne International Film Festival and has received a Special Jury Prize at IFFR and the Black Magic Innovation Award at MIFF. His work has been written about in publications including The Guardian, Variety, Screen Daily, Criterion, Sight and Sound’s Weekly Film Bulletin & The Monthly.