Shock of the New (8 Parts)

Synopsis

Series on modern art, relating it to life, social and scientific changes, politics and history, and to everyday experiences of the world.
1: Looks at the machine age of the late 19th century and shows the optimism, and ultimate disillusion, it generated.
2: Considers that the disillusionment following World War 1 resulted in art that was opposed to all systems in dadaism and German expressionism. Looks at the relation between art and authority in the modern movement. Includes interviews with Marcel Duchamp, Naum Gabo and Albert Speer.
3: 20th century art in celebration of the experience of pleasure and well-being, from the landscapes of the Impressionists to the erotic nudes of Picasso and the serene interiors of Matisse.
4: Looks at modernism’s desire to create an ideal society as exemplified by the Bauhaus and the city of Brasilia. Filmed in France, Germany, Brazil, New York and Chicago, the programme includes archival material on architects Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, and an interview with Philip Johnson.
5: Looks at surrealism and the irrational and ecstatic in modern art. Filmed on location in Paris, Barcelona, Turin, New York, London and Majorca, the programme also contains interviews with Salvator Dali, Man Ray and Max Ernst, and archive footage of Rene Magritte and Joan Miro.
6: Art that deals with the dark extremities of human emotion: panic, loneliness, fear and even self-disgust, exemplified by artists such as van Gogh, Munch, Bacon and Rothko, often described as Expressionists.
7: Explores pop art and how modern art was affected by other media - print, radio, advertising, television. Explains how artists adapted their styles to compete. Includes interviews with Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldernberg and shows a special commercial designed by Richard Hamilton and acted by Don McIver and Lorraine Chase.
8: Looks at the consequences of the assimilation of modern art and looks to the future. Includes interviews with Michael Heizer, Joseph Beuys and Arnulf Rainer; also Stuart Brisley performs ‘art’ underwater, and Walter de Maria’s ‘most dangerous and expensive sculpture in the world’ is seen.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. Standard formats. col. 8 x 60 min.

Year of production

1980

Availability

Sale; 1996 sale: £99.00 (+VAT +p&p) each 1996 sale: £280.00 (+VAT +p&p) series

Subjects

Art

Keywords

art - modern art; art - pop art

Credits

Writer

Robert Hughes

Cast

Robert Hughes

Sections

Title

Mechanical paradise, The

Synopsis

1: Looks at the machine age of the late 19th century and shows the optimism, and ultimate disillusion, it generated.

Title

Powers that be, The

Synopsis

2: Considers that the disillusionment following World War 1 resulted in art that was opposed to all systems in dadaism and German expressionism. Looks at the relation between art and authority in the modern movement. Includes interviews with Marcel Ducham

Title

Landscape of pleasure, The

Synopsis

3: 20th century art in celebration of the experience of pleasure and well-being, from the landscapes of the Impressionists to the erotic nudes of Picasso and the serene interiors of Matisse.

Title

Trouble in utopia

Synopsis

4: Looks at modernism's desire to create an ideal society as exemplified by the Bauhaus and the city of Brasilia. Filmed in France, Germany, Brazil, New York and Chicago, the programme includes archival material on architects Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusi

Title

Threshold of liberty, The

Synopsis

5: Looks at surrealism and the irrational and ecstatic in modern art. Filmed on location in Paris, Barcelona, Turin, New York, London and Majorca, the programme also contains interviews with Salvator Dali, Man Ray and Max Ernst, and archive footage of Ren

Title

View from the edge, The

Synopsis

6: Art that deals with the dark extremities of human emotion: panic, loneliness, fear and even self-disgust, exemplified by artists such as van Gogh, Munch, Bacon and Rothko, often described as Expressionists.

Title

Culture as nature

Synopsis

7: Explores pop art and how modern art was affected by other media - print, radio, advertising, television. Explains how artists adapted their styles to compete. Includes interviews with Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldernberg

Title

Future that was, The

Synopsis

8: Looks at the consequences of the assimilation of modern art and looks to the future. Includes interviews with Michael Heizer, Joseph Beuys and Arnulf Rainer; also Stuart Brisley performs 'art' underwater, and Walter de Maria's 'most dangerous and expen

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

BBC Active Video for Learning - now BBC Learning

Contact

Carolina Fernandez Jeremy Wilcox (CF - for educational enquiries JW - channel sales manager)

Email

BBCStudiosLearning@bbc.com

Web

https://www.bbcstudioslearning.com/ External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 20 8433 1009

Address

BBC Studios Limited
Television Centre
101 Wood Lane
London
W12 7FA
UK

Notes

The BBC Active company has now been absorbed within BBC Learning, a division of BBC Studios. It was originally a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education. Formerly known as ‘BBC Worldwide Learning Studies’ and before that as ‘Videos for Education & Training’