Film Group

Series Ten: With their supposed idiosyncratic personalities, yet paradoxically broad-based fandom, artists (across all disciplines) have been frequent subjects of the popular cinema since its early days.  For example, Vincent Van Gogh has had numerous films produced about his life, continuing even in recent years.  Because they seem above the ordinary, artists fascinate us: their specialness offers a glimpse of a more brilliant existence for ourselves.  Such a glimpse, however, can be a trap not only for us, whose dreams of a more intense life are easily exploited by a consumerist society eager to fulfill them, but especially for the artists themselves, whose humanity as well as their artistic contribution can be cheapened.