The Woman of Kent

7 December 2025 - 29 March 2026

I’m not moaning, you don’t hear me moaning

These words, spoken by Gladys Morris, the artist’s dead grandmother form, along with other snippets of her conversation, the soundscape for the short film, The Woman of Kent.

Silent black and white footage of early 20th century people at work or play is cut up and edited by Kotting, then presented as a barrage of moving images thrown at the screen at high speed. Gladys’ voiceover constantly pulls us away from any romantic ideal of the past that may be suggested by the footage of soft-focussed vistas and sped-up limb movements borrowed by Kotting from the vaults of Screen Archive South East. It brings us firmly back to the often strange realities of her life in Kent, the literal backdrop for the film. Though her intonation suggests her place in history, the sound recording is clear and crisp, and it is impossible to wear the equivalent of rose-tinted glasses when listening to her monologue. At the same time the here and now is presented in the film as a still pinhole camera image, thus reducing our vivid colour-image saturated present to the simplest of photographic devices.

Andrew Kötting is a practicing artist and Professor of Time-based Media at University for the Creative Arts. His practice encompasses moving image, installation and performance, and recent work has included The Sun Came Dripping a Bucket Full of Gold, 2014 and This Illuminated World is Full of Stupid Men.

The Woman of Kent is programmed within the regular screening schedule at Kino Digital, Victoria Hall, Rye Road, Hawkhurst