Fang
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
FANG mixes documentary and fiction techniques to recount an African art object's journey through a century of peril and adventure, and uses the film styles of each historical period to tell its story - a whole century of Western attitudes towards African culture packed into 8 minutes.
"Highly Recommended! [A] little gem... Part of what makes FANG so clever is that with each vignette, director Susan Vogel uses a different film style and look. The effect is delightfully quirky, but never kitschy... there is nothing to dislike here. The film raises questions about authenticity, art, culture, and history, and would be useful in stimulating discussion. It would be an excellent addition to collections supporting art history, African history, or anthropology."—Educational Media Reviews Online
"A complete delight, so witty and pithy - if you blink, you may miss an important piece of art history."—Professor Suzanne MacRae, English Department, Univ. of Arkansas
"Fast, funny and provocative. The film focuses attention on the arbitrary and changing nature of the categories of 'art' in Western culture and raises important questions about the integrity of the object and the relationship between museum exhibition of objects and their value on the art market. It takes me two lectures to cover this material; this film does it in 8 minutes."—Professor Jean Borgatti, Clark University
"In a thoroughly inventive approach to its topic, this crisp black and white drama explores the ways in which African art has been appropriated through time and space."—Margaret Mead Film Festival
Citation
Main credits
Vogel, Susan Mullin (filmmaker)
De Carbo, Ed (film producer)
Pemberton, Robert (actor)
Other credits
Director of photography, Alex Kondracke; assistant director, Imogen Thomas; art director, Chris Mueller, Louisa Thompson.
Distributor subjects
Africa; African American Studies; Anthropology; Art; Historiography; History (World); Multi-Cultural Studies; Sociology; Study GuideKeywords
WEBVTT
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Dear Dr. Locke, I\'ve agreed to
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loan the Fang to a
traveling exhibition
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that will go to London,
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Brussels, and possibly Zurich.
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Now that your book is finished,
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I thought you wouldn\'t
mind letting him go.
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Finally, this morning we
captured the big idol from
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[inaudible] My Senegalese boys
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were courageous and efficient.
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The whole shrine was
smashed in seconds.
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This new idol is quite good.
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The hair and parts of the
body are all decorated with
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brass upholstery text that
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are considered to
like jewelry here.
00:01:27.515 --> 00:01:30.049
I\'m still searching
for clear evidence
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of cannibalism but I
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hadn\'t been able to see any.
00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:37.900
The natives are very canny
and hide everything.
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I just can\'t get the arms right.
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No, it\'s the hands.
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Damn hands are all wrong.
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Straight lines, it\'s
about straight lines.
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I\'ll never get this
complicated African shit.
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What are you looking at?
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You stupid fetish.
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My dear [inaudible]
my African Kinship Study
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led me to my Fang ancestry,
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which I bought because
it spoke volumes to me
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about the basic human
kinship that unites us all.
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The de Man Ray photograph
my ancestor statue,
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I felt we had entered a new
age founded on understanding.
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Now that future is fading.
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My manuscript will never
be published here, worse,
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the authorities are
now attempting to
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confiscate it and my African art.
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I cannot go into details
but I have taken
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drastic action to save it
and I will need your help.
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My dear daughter
leaves for Zurich
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tonight and will contact
you once she arrives.
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Dear Dr. Locke,
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I\'ve just inherited an
unusual African sculpture
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that I\'d like to learn about.
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I\'m told you once
studied this piece
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which is both beautiful
and disturbing.
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I\'d be grateful for any
information you can supply.
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Dear Dr. Locke, thank you
for your swift reply.
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I\'ve learned a great deal from
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my visit to the art museum.
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The curator confirms
your suspicion that I
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have only the top half of
what was once a full figure.
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Dear Dr, Locke, today
my search ended
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happily when I received
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the most amazing and
ridiculous object.
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Dear Dr. Locke, my wonderful Fang
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is now a fine standing man.
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I\'m delighted to have him
illustrate it in your book.
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A toast to our guest of honor,
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the eminent professor Alain
Locke who demonstrates
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how Negro artistic
creativity will
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be the solution to the
race problem in America.
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Thank you kind hostess
and dear friends.
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Nothing is more galvanizing
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than the sense of
a cultural past.
00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:46.739
I\'ve agreed to loan the Fang to
00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:49.109
a traveling exhibition
that will go to London,
00:06:49.110 --> 00:06:51.259
Brussels, and possibly Zurich.
00:06:51.260 --> 00:06:53.074
Now that your book is finished,
00:06:53.075 --> 00:06:55.489
I thought you wouldn\'t
mind letting him go.
00:06:55.490 --> 00:06:58.669
So many people will have a
chance to see him in Europe
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before he comes back to his
final home in the art museum.