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MeaningWilliam Kentridge

March 30, 2012

Filmed at his Johannesburg studio in 2008, William Kentridge discusses how the physical activities of cutting, tearing and collaging generate ideas and infuse his work with meaning.

Rather than starting with an idea that is then executed, Kentridge relies on these freeform processes and the resulting juxtapositions to find connections and raise questions. Finished works are shown at the Annandale Galleries in Sydney, Australia.

More information and credits

Credits

Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Philippe Charluet & Robert Elfstrom. Sound: Ray Day. Editor: Paulo Padilha. Artwork Courtesy: William Kentridge. Special Thanks: Annandale Galleries. Video: © 2012 Art21, Inc. All rights reserved.

Closed captionsAvailable in English, German, Romanian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian

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William Kentridge

Having witnessed first-hand one of the twentieth century’s most contentious struggles—the dissolution of apartheid—William Kentridge brings the ambiguity and subtlety of personal experience to public subjects that are most often framed in narrowly defined terms. Using film, drawing, sculpture, animation, and performance, he transmutes sobering political events into powerful poetic allegories. In a now-signature technique, Kentridge photographs his charcoal drawings and paper collages over time, recording scenes as they evolve.

“The work starts with the pleasure of putting pieces of paper together, and turning them from pieces of paper into a woman. Taking lines that meander around a piece of plastic and turn into a horse. That’s the starting point; that’s the pleasure, and that’s the need, that’s the impulse.”

William Kentridge


Finding Inspiration

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