I went to see a few of his documentaries at the NFT last week. had no previous knowledge other than the undergraduate perennial book of 'ways of seeing', so didn't quite know what to expect- it was all remarkable stuff, a few things that stuck out-
- so much of this doesn't seem to be talked about anymore-advertising, art as something worth arguing seriously over, the ability to generalise without (for the most part) sounding patronising
- this mesmerising sequence in the fourth episode of 'WOS', a cut ups of oil paintings and advertising in incongrously bleak places, set to incredible delia derbyshire music (my god, there must be albums worth of stuff of hers this good!)- so sinister...
- there's this faith in people there that is very unusual now, from left or right. one of the programmes ('drawn from life') i think it was called) consisted of an 'ordinary' member of the 'public' talking about a selection of paintings for 10 minutes or so. another was about the palais ideal, this construction that a rural postman had worked on their entire life, this astonishing, unique thing (and there was none of that 'outsider art' guff here, it was all taken with the utmost seriousness)...running through all the films was a wierd optimism. there was a line about how we were 'a society half way to democracy'- coupled with this belief that anyone is capable of thought, of creativity. a stressing of potentiality rather than a sub-situ rant about how people are lulled by the spectacle etc- although much of it had a lot in common with the situs.
sometimes it veers slightly close to romanticisation of the working class, but i found it all...rather touching, to be honest.
anyway, i'm rambling now. any thoughts?
- so much of this doesn't seem to be talked about anymore-advertising, art as something worth arguing seriously over, the ability to generalise without (for the most part) sounding patronising
- this mesmerising sequence in the fourth episode of 'WOS', a cut ups of oil paintings and advertising in incongrously bleak places, set to incredible delia derbyshire music (my god, there must be albums worth of stuff of hers this good!)- so sinister...
- there's this faith in people there that is very unusual now, from left or right. one of the programmes ('drawn from life') i think it was called) consisted of an 'ordinary' member of the 'public' talking about a selection of paintings for 10 minutes or so. another was about the palais ideal, this construction that a rural postman had worked on their entire life, this astonishing, unique thing (and there was none of that 'outsider art' guff here, it was all taken with the utmost seriousness)...running through all the films was a wierd optimism. there was a line about how we were 'a society half way to democracy'- coupled with this belief that anyone is capable of thought, of creativity. a stressing of potentiality rather than a sub-situ rant about how people are lulled by the spectacle etc- although much of it had a lot in common with the situs.
sometimes it veers slightly close to romanticisation of the working class, but i found it all...rather touching, to be honest.
anyway, i'm rambling now. any thoughts?