Since we set up Cornerhouse Artist Film in 2011 we’ve been investigating new methods of production, distribution and exhibition for artist film, and have released features from Gillian Wearing, Andrew Kötting and Jamie Shovlin. But what is an artist film, and what makes it different to a standard feature? Cornerhouse Artistic Director Sarah Perks explains this burgeoning field of practice…
Artist film is having a moment – it’s ‘on trend’, as the fashion magazines might say. Tate Britain is surveying the last five years of British artist film and video, Laure Prouvost’s film installation Wantee won the 2013 Turner Prize, and later this month we’re partnering with The Institute of Contemporary Arts for its Artists’ Moving Image Network, a year-long season of artist film. Artist Jamie Shovlin, whose work features in our exhibition Hiker Meat, has directed his debut feature Rough Cut – a Cornerhouse Artist Film which explores the re-making of a fictitious 1970s exploitation movie; and the Jarman and Margaret Tait artist film awards have significantly risen in profile this year. So where has this all come from, and why?
As a practice, artist film and video has matured significantly in the last few years, particularly with the emergence of key works like Phil Collins’ marxism today (2009) and Douglas Gordon & Philippe Parreno’s Zidane (2008). Before this there had been a strong history of experimental film and video work, but it became somewhat tarnished in the 1990s when a number of artists produced work lacking clear concept. When stronger pieces came through in the 2000s the practice started to come of age; it disentangled itself from nonsensical descriptors like ‘media art’ and ‘time-based art’ and was included in several major art biennales without controversy.
So what exactly is an artist film? The short answer is that it’s any film, video or moving image produced by a visual artist. As such it can encompass pretty much any content – from showing nothing on screen to anthropology-style documentary material, or even elaborate period drama.
Artist film can also be any length and show in myriad formats and spaces: using projectors and/or screens, within broader installation pieces in galleries, or more conventionally in cinemas. Steve McQueen’s Hunger (2010), Gillian Wearing’s Self Made (2011), Clio Barnard’s The Arbor (2011), Andrew Kötting’s Swandown (2012) and Ben Rivers’ Two Years at Sea (2012) are all films by artists which screened on general release in our cinemas.
What usually distinguishes artist film from more traditional notions of filmmaking, however, is not just the fact that it’s made by a self-declared visual artist, but also that it’s in some way artistic or experimental. Without this, the person at the creative helm could be viewed as simply a director, not an artist filmmaker. With its stark, visceral and experimental portrayal of Bobby Sands (and one 17-and-a-half-minute take) Steve McQueen’s 2008 film Hunger is, without question, an artist film. But, despite having a clear visual flair, his 2012 film Shame, and 2014 release 12 Years a Slave, conform to traditional styles of filmmaking and can’t be considered artist films, even though McQueen remains a practicing visual artist.
Once you’ve established whether a work is an artist film, how can you recognise a good one? As with appreciating a painting or any other kind of artwork, there’s really nothing to be scared of: you might evaluate the artist’s idea or concept, their technical ability, and whether or not the film moves you or provokes a reaction. At the end of the day, to succeed it has to work for you.
Artist films are often original, innovative and experimental – with some pushing the boundaries more than others. But whether short or feature-length, exhibited in galleries or distributed nationally via cinemas, they are almost invariably different – and there’s plenty to like about that.
Rough Cut by Jamie Shovlin, produced and distributed by Cornerhouse Artist Film, is showing on selected dates in UK cinemas – It also screens through Curzon Home Cinema. Jamie Shovlin’s exhibition Hiker Meat previews in our galleries from Fri 17 January. And our ICA Artists’ Moving Image Network kicks off in February.