Making History: Art and Documentary in Britain from 1929 to Now - Softcover

Tanya Barson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1854376829 ISBN 13: 9781854376824

Publisher: Tate Publishing, 2006

Synopsis

"Making History" investigates the rich interchange between documentary and art practice in Britain throughout the twentieth century. The term 'documentary' is far from straightforward and its influence on visual culture has been complex and profound. Britain pioneered the development of the documentary form; the filmmaker and producer John Grierson, who coined the term and is widely regarded as the father of documentary, defined it as 'the creative use of actuality'. Artists have been involved in the development of documentary practice from the very beginning, and this in turn has had a significant impact upon the visual arts in Britain. Although "Making History" is mainly focused on fine art, film, and photography, it also covers television documentary and docu-drama, poetry and literature, sociology and social anthropology. Documentary continues to be an area where new forms or structures are created, such as the 'fly-on-the-wall' approach. These in turn inspire and transform the language employed by artists, who adapt their techniques to their own ends. This catalogue presents documentary realism as a defining influence on visual culture in Britain, both as an established form for artists to respond against and an area of radical innovation in its own right. "Making History" features work by artists and practitioners including, Bill Brandt, John Bratby, William Coldstream, Tacita Dean, Jeremy Deller, Lucian Freud, John Grierson, Isaac Julien, Martin Parr, Humphrey Spender, and Gillian Wearing.

About this title

About the Author

Tanya Barson is Exhibitions and Collections Curator at Tate Liverpool. David Campany is Senior Lecturer in Photography at Surrey Institute of Art and Design. Lynda Morris is Curator of the Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art and Design, and Director of EASTinternational. Mark Nash is an international film producer, filmmaker and screenwriter.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tate Publishing
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1854376829
• ISBN 13: 9781854376824
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 98