TY - ADVS
T1 - Painting Humanity
A2 - Morris, Chris
N1 - Project methods
Through the commissioning, research and making process, Morris set out clear ‘making parameters’, a manifesto of making, that had to be conformed too throughout the shoot and edit:
• To create a fictional narrative that housed a documentary within a narrative drama form.
• Not to show a wider body of their work but only to show their Artes Mundi shortlisted works.
• Not to show any of the artists actually on camera
• In the film we would ‘hear’ the artist speak of their methodologies and specifically about their shortlisted piece - but nothing about them, their wider work or career.
• To restrict each artist to a discreet segment of the film. No intercutting of artists speaking on a particular theme for example.
• There would be no standard use of voice over or written narration but narration would be taken (stolen/reused) from other programme/s that dealt with the wider theme of the exhibition – namely ‘humanity’ (identity, citizenship, democracy and power, community, life/death and materiality.)
Documentary film was used as a mode of inquiry to explore and bridge the gulf between the language of contemporary visual art (in an art gallery setting) and a diverse television audience. The research strategy was to construct a documentary form to enable audiences to develop greater understanding and enjoyment of contemporary art, across linguistic and geographic boundaries and encourage debate within a wider cultural sector.
‘Form’ is key to this work. The finished research output ‘Painting Humanity’ (Morris, C., BBC Wales 2008) presents an altered reality in documentary form. A fictional scenario forms a central narrative, artists are precluded (except for their voices in connection to their work) and the piece is unified by a transplanted voice over. The themes and aspirations of the artists with wider perspectives on the development of mankind are interpreted in this hybrid documentary by recycling and adapting the existing voiceover from the seminal television series ‘The Ascent of Man’ (Bronowski, J BBC 1973) which was re-used in a new context.
Dissemination
BBC Wales audiences (BBC 2 Wales 19th May and 14th July 2008)
Artes Mundi audience (National Museum and Art Galleries of Wales
Broadcast twice - BBC 2 Wales 19th May and 14th July 2008 to BBC Wales audiences and Artes Mundi audience (National Museum and Art Galleries of Wales)
PY - 2008/5/19
Y1 - 2008/5/19
N2 - Research Context
The research context for this project is one of hybridity in form and subverting the standard TV commissioning model. The work centres on The 2008 Artes Mundi 3 exhibition held at the National Museum and Art Galleries of Wales (Praxis theme) and the output was to be a television documentary (Praxis form) the exact nature of which would evolve through the process of making.
Research Imperatives
Morris’s film ‘Painting Humanity” consisted of portraits of the eight short-listed artists for the third Artes Mundi Prize - Roseangela Renno (Brazil), Susan Norrie (Australia), Adboulaye Konate (Mali), Dalziel & Scullion (Scotland), Mercia Cantor (Romania), Vasco Araujo (Portugal), Lida Abdul (Afghanistan) and the winning artist, NS Harsha (India).
The process of creation of the film explored the themes that concerned the work of the shortlisted artists, namely: identity, citizenship, democracy and power, community, life/death and materiality.
AB - Research Context
The research context for this project is one of hybridity in form and subverting the standard TV commissioning model. The work centres on The 2008 Artes Mundi 3 exhibition held at the National Museum and Art Galleries of Wales (Praxis theme) and the output was to be a television documentary (Praxis form) the exact nature of which would evolve through the process of making.
Research Imperatives
Morris’s film ‘Painting Humanity” consisted of portraits of the eight short-listed artists for the third Artes Mundi Prize - Roseangela Renno (Brazil), Susan Norrie (Australia), Adboulaye Konate (Mali), Dalziel & Scullion (Scotland), Mercia Cantor (Romania), Vasco Araujo (Portugal), Lida Abdul (Afghanistan) and the winning artist, NS Harsha (India).
The process of creation of the film explored the themes that concerned the work of the shortlisted artists, namely: identity, citizenship, democracy and power, community, life/death and materiality.
KW - television documentary
M3 - Digital or Visual Products
ER -