Northern Valhalla

Northern Valhalla is a film by Gordon Dalton and S Mark Gubb, commissioned by The 66/Eden Arts (Cumbria). It follows a road trip from England’s East to West Coast along the A66. The film is an assault on the senses, mixing original footage with a barrage of text, audio and imagery gathered from various sources, including residents along the route and social media platforms such as TikTok.

Made during the unprecedented times of a global pandemic, the film is a haunting wormhole into our past, present and future, capturing an essence of now, an unknown future, and the area’s rich historical past.

Praise for the film from Dr John Scanlan, University of Central Lancashire, UK:

 “A mad phantasmagoria is what it is. But that is the reality of our places as much as the bricks and mortar and ruins and shops… - the ancient, the plain old 'old', the modern and the endlessly multiplying nowness of the Tik Tok world of imagination and everyday oddness. The Tik Toks made me think of German philosopher Leibniz's theory of monads. The monad was like his idea of the mind or soul - he was writing in the 17th century – which he thought was self-contained but outwardly provided / projected a mirror of itself the world. Each monad, like each Tik Tok, a reflection of the perceptions and desires etc of the person. I hope it will be seen as a brilliant illustration of the multiplicity of place, and certainly something that can't be achieved by any other means - not writing, not photography, not movies, nor anything else I can think of.”

Gordon Dalton and S Mark Gubb have what they describe as an ‘uncollaborative practice’ born of their shared obsession with popular culture and history; an occasional crossing of the streams between two artists better known for their solo practices.

This film is the fifth in a series of projects/exhibitions between Dalton and Gubb, the others being ‘Nowhere Bar’ (2017, various venues inc. A2 Project Space, Birmingham), ‘Everyone Knows this is Nowhere’ (2007, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester), ‘The Battle of Forest Hills’ (2005, Moot Gallery, Nottingham) and ‘Radio, Radio’ (2005, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff).