A.F. Webb’S Keith & No.94 (2021) is comprised of a 15 minute film and accompanying photobook. the work re-visits the life of Keith Eldred and how he purchased 94 maintenance unit (94mu), Raf Barnham, Suffolk, a large area of land with many purpose-built structures. Now known as Gorse Industrial Estate, the land was originally purchased from the Ministry of Defence. The primary use of 94mu was to house Britain’s first nuclear weapons. Shot on the land concerned, the photographs and film reference episodes from keith’s life prior to his acquisition of the estate.
The work uses the land as an adhoc film set, reimagining it as the many different locations that played host to events from Keith’s life, from goalkeeping in Mill Hill, town planning in Hong Kong, to growing mushrooms on the estate. The work weaves these episodes together with the land, oscillating between background and foreground, both character and archive in itself. Excerpts from No. 94 are presented here alongside The Blue Danube, an essay from Will Rees.