| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (27 min. 28 sec.) ; 165026524 bytes |
| Summary |
David Frazer is a Melbourne-based artist who specialises in various age-old forms of printmaking such as wood carving and etching. With imagination and wit, Frazer's work is imbued with images of nostalgia, love and longing; but always invested with optimism and his signature wry humour.Country houses and funny, sad, solitary characters populate his work - as do dreams of escaping a rural utopia faded through the hardships of isolation, drought and diminishing farm returns. This 30 minute documentary follows David on a bittersweet journey, as he travels back to his hometown, the little Wimmera wheat town of Murtoa, to source some inspiration for the creation of four new art works. Filmed at Murtoa around ANZAC day, the documentary, part of the second Artists at Work series, tracks David as he travels back to Murtoa and works from a little studio/caravan on the banks of the now empty Lake Marmo. David wanders about, returning to the various haunts of his youth, reminiscing and reflecting on how time has weathered the small town. It's a journey that deals with the themes of artistic narrative and time moving on, as well as a grown man's desire to give something back to a community battered by punishing drought."Most of my art stems from that time," he explains. "To me, Murtoa is a very romantic and melancholic place. I went back there in 1998 for part of my Master of Visual Arts to do a series of works inspired by the area and wrote a thesis called 'Pastoral Melancholia' which looked at rural decline. People there recognised me even though I was only a little kid when I left. Memories are pretty long there." (David Frazer)The program follows David's artistic process, from his initial sketches in the town through to the completion of his prints in Melbourne, as he struggles to finish the work in time for his exhibition, 'Shadow of a Drought' that he is holding in Murtoa. The four artworks created by David Frazer during the course of the documentary will be raffled on the night with the proceeds going to the town's new Dunmunkle Health Centre. David struggles with opening night nerves as he prepares not only his work but also to face his past and judgment by the local townsfolk. PRODUCTION DETAILS:Director: Tony Wyzenbeek; Camera: Phil Hankin; Editor: Paul Ryan; Series Producer: Lisa McGregor; Executive Producer: Megan Harding |
| Event |
Broadcast 2010-02-02 at 02:05:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Art woodwork.
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Early memories.
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Self-organizing systems.
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Wood-carving.
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Victoria -- Port Melbourne.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Adler, Peter, contributor
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Flanagan, Martin, contributor
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Frazer, Betty, contributor
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Frazer, David, contributor
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Frazer, John, contributor
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Krone, Hendrikje, contributor
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Murphy, Pia Murphy, contributor
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Parmer, Sherdan, contributor
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Sudholz, David, contributor
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Wyzenbeek, Tony, director
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