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With Sheffield’s Doc/Fest, Site Gallery and S1 Artspace present A Peculiar Form of Fiction. The exhibition draws together works from the 1970s onwards, by artists who have applied the techniques and tropes of documentary in their work due to its directness, impact and unstable position in relation to truth.

Artists: Duncan Campbell, Phil Collins, John Smith, Hito Steyerl, Gillian Wearing and Jeremy Deller. 

The artists selected are typically acutely aware of their own authorship, the awkwardness of looking, and the explicit ethical problems of telling a story. As such, the works often deliberately expose their production methods and reveal the artist maker within the narrative. Through avoiding a seemingly ʻobjectiveʼ position, works such as Battle of Orgreave (2001) by Jeremy Deller, Self Made (2010) by Gillian Wearing and Girl Chewing Gum (1976) by John Smith implicate the artist as more than a silent witness.

Hito Steyerl explains her fascination with this form of making work: ‘The perpetual disbelief, the gnawing uncertainty about whether what we see is true, faithful to reality or factual, accompany documentary images as their shadow. This doubt is not a deficiency … but the basic attribute of contemporary documentary images.’

A full list of the documentaries can be downloaded here
Opening Hours:
Site Gallery 10.00 – 18.00
S1 Artspace 12.00 – 18.00

The exhibition continues at S1 Artspace only until 21 July 2012. 

On Sunday 17 June Doc/Fest presents: 
The Music in My Films – In Conversation with Jeremy Deller 

Deller will be in conversation with Alexis Petridis and run a masterclass to explore the central role music has played in his films.

For bookings: http://www.showroomworkstation.org.uk/musicinmyfilms

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