Richard Billingham: Fishtank
Artangel's first commission for television, originally broadcast on 13 December 1998 on BBC 2
“It's not my intention to shock, to offend, sensationalise, be political or whatever, only to make work that is as spiritually meaningful as I can make it - whatever the medium”
Richard Billingham
A high-rise council flat in the Midlands. The father, the mother, the brother. Some animals. The father drinks a lot, the brother plays around a bit, the mother holds everything together. The older brother films them with his handycam - closely, slowly, intently, recording whatever is going on.
In 1996 Richard Billingham's book Ray's A Laugh was hailed as the photo book of the decade. Billingham used the hi-8 footage shot at the same time as these seminal photographs to create his first film: Fishtank. Artangel's first commission for television, Fishtank was made in collaboration with film-maker Adam Curtis, editor Dai Vaughan and Illuminations TV for BBC 2’s acclaimed TX series.
The 'video verité' of Fishtank was contained within the compressed space of the flat. Ray sits alone in the kitchen, feeding the fish. Liz plays computer games. Jason swats a fly on the wall. Sometime they talk, sometimes they argue.
Dispassionately yet compassionately, Billingham's film registered the emotional territory of the flat and his family who lived there. He charted a pattern of pathos, despair and hope. Fishtank crafted a terrible beauty from the landscape of family life.
Fishtank is included in The Artangel Collection.
This project was supported by Arts Council England, Artangel International Circle, Special Angels and The Company of Angels
