Historical Necessities: 1948

Creator:

Hartney, Mick
  • This work is part of the rewind archive.

    Duration: 6m 51s

    Year: 1989

    Original formats:

    S-VHS

    Media types:

    Video

    Type of work:

    Single Screen

    Funding source: Self

    First exhibited: 1989 Tate Liverpool, Video Positive

    Technical details: The only tape made by the artist using A & B rolls. Used digital effects.

    “This was intended to be, and still may be the first of a series of shortish tapes which concentrated on a single year of the 20th century and of my lifetime. The rule was that all the material, images and sound, were in some way associated with that year but I try to avoid a history channel approach. To this day this is the only video piece I have made that uses found material. The starting point was the final shot of 3 parachutes slowly collapsing during a re-enactment of the Berlin air lift. I was determined to use that image and set about trying to find other material that would justify its use. The tape starts off quite fast and quite light and gradually gets slower and darker.” Mick Hartney, March 2008

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