I first tried to make one of these videos back when they were all the rage in 2014. I’d had an apocalyptic 2013 and entered the new year feeling completely helpless and unable to escape my situation. I decided to run headlong into a bunch of projects that could keep me out of the house and, whether they succeeded or not, making a One Second A Day video felt like a good way to keep myself preoccupied just in case all else failed.
All else did fail and that video turned into the only project I was proud of, and so it was all the more heartbreaking when my hard drive died halfway through the year – twice. All the work I did for the first six months of 2014 was corrupted and lost forever.
It has taken me three years to get over that loss and in late 2016, having moved to London to study at Goldsmiths and feeling like I had found my place and my people and loving every second of life for the first time since 2013, I had a feeling that 2017 would be a good year to document.
Sod’s law meant it all went to shit come January.
This year has been exceptionally difficult but I thought I’d keep going with making this video regardless.
It would have been far too easy to wake up this morning, on January 1st, and remember nothing but the hardships from this past year. Thanks to this video, I know that I have a lot to be thankful for and in a lot of ways 2017 was a roaring success but just like 2014, I can’t help but feel like all the fun documented here was occasioned by a pathological need to stay out of my room and my own head.
One second a day is nowhere near enough time to capture everything and everybody who made this year easier but I hope this brings a smile to a lot of other people’s faces too.
2017 can fuck right off but it wasn’t all bad and I have a lot of people to thank for that. You know who you are. You might even be in this…