Darcy Lange Maori Land Project 1977-80

Darcy Lange Maori Land Project 1977-80

Darcy Lange: Study of an artist at work, currently showing at Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castellón (EACC), was recently reviewed in Spains leading newspaper El Pais.

Here's a rough translation into English...

It began in the seventies when New Zealand artist Darcy Lange (1946-2005), traveled to England and was surprised by the class difference. He then decided to conduct a study to examine the eating habits of the upper class and working class, recording in 16mm a family meal at home from each of these two classes. These two recordings can now be seen in the exhibition at the Espai d'Art Contemporari de Castelló (EACC) dedicated to this pioneer video artist.
 
Darcy Lange: Study of an artist at work reflects the artist projects, developed during the seventies in the UK, New Zealand and Spain, which recorded the rural work in Cantavieja, the Spanish town in the Teruel province. In this work, conducted in 1975, Lange recorded scenes of now extinct agricultural activities, including plowing with oxen,  tractors, cows and mules, hand mowing and harvesting.
 
"Many of these jobs have already disappeared, so these works are not only interested in the context of video art," says exhibition curator Mercedes Vicente, who notes that Lange was a pioneer in using video.
 
Espai visitors can also see photographs and videos of Lange’s work in England. Vicente explains that since 1971 the New Zealand artist worked in British factories and mines.
 
"He's very interested in the analysis of work in still and moving image," she says.
 
But his work goes beyond merely the documentation of work. "Lange is not only interested in recording the theme of work, but includes also scenes of leisure for these workers," Vicente says.
 
With these pieces Lange became one of the first artist to incorporate the long take to record in real-time the working world. It was not until later when he begins to plan and structure the recordings. He starts recording with a preset order and chooses a group of workers to document in film, video and photography. "I wanted to highlight the differences between film and video," says Mercedes Vicente.
 
The exhibition also includes Lange’s documentary on New Zealand Maori activists and their land rights struggles.
 
Darcy Lange was a lover of flamenco guitar and studied in Seville with his master Diego del Gastor.
 
The exhibition is open until April 29.