This is the transcript of the caption track for Dan Guthrie's work Empty Alcove. It was written by Carefuffle Collective and Dan Guthrie to be a dialogue between an objective and a subjective captioner to reflect the wide range of voices that have been involved in the ongoing conversations about the Blackboy Clock in Stroud.
The work is five minutes long and timecodes are displayed in the format mm:ss:ff, which is two-digit minutes, seconds, and frames.
![A portrait TV screen sits against a white wall. On the screen is a empty alcove at the top of a building, with blue sky in the background. Overlaid is the caption [time passes with ease] in red letters.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fwmz2gmwv%2Fproduction%2Fded99602e30f2142bf6b8e229058d1732bd08449-1500x1000.png%3Fw%3D1500%26h%3D1000%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75)
Installation view of the captioned version of Empty Alcove. Courtesy of Spike Island, Bristol. Photography by Rob Harris.
00:02:23 -> 00:07:23
[relaxed street ambience]
00:10:22 -> 00:16:07
[distant kids’ chatter echoes]
00:19:07 -> 00:24:06
[calm in the air]
00:35:27 -> 00:40:29
[soft buzz of kids’ play echoes]
00:49:28 -> 00:54:29
[outside ambience; birds chirp]
00:59:04 -> 01:04:09
[street feels welcoming]
01:25:18 -> 01:29:18
[schoolyard ambience]
01:36:00 -> 01:41:13
[light hubbub of traffic]
01:45:23 -> 01:50:26
[far birdsong & kids’ chatter echo]
01:54:20 -> 02:00:04
[mundanity blossoms]
02:21:08 -> 02:26:12
[ambience of the place]
02:28:14 -> 02:33:08
[vehicles passing by]
02:40:27 -> 02:46:23
[birdsong & kids’ voices ebb and flow]
02:51:02 -> 02:56:18
[time passes with ease]
03:21:09 -> 03:26:19
[street ambience]
03:39:15 -> 03:44:03
[kids’ chatter subdued by a passing plane]
03:48:08 -> 03:52:29
[idyllic sounds of daily life]
04:20:10 -> 04:24:13
[schoolyard ambience]
04:31:15 -> 04:38:09
[birdsong & playful chatter continue to echo]
04:42:08 -> 04:47:11
[carefree kids having fun]
Carefuffle is a disabled and queer-led working group rooted in the principles of care, interconnected, authorship and social justice. We are dedicated to celebrating disabled and queer talent, aiming to embed it into public, curatorial, and academic mindset. Our commitment to challenging the ableist narratives and socio-cultural exclusion comes from the belief in the wholeness of disability and access as a collective joy and shared responsibility towards a liberatory future .
Dan Guthrie is an artist and writer whose practice explores representations and mis-representations of Blackness, questioning not only what is shown, but what remains unseen. His latest project, Empty Alcove / Rotting Figure, was co-commissioned by Spike Island, Bristol and Chisenhale Gallery, London, and toured both venues in 2025, with the accompanying online platform earf.info publishing new writing by Guthrie and invited contributors throughout the year. His moving image work has been screened widely across the UK as well as internationally at film festivals such as IFFR, Prismatic Ground and Berlinale. From 2026 to 2027 he will be a resident artist at Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam.