Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

The Hand of the Artist (1906)

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A dance in the hand

Original classification rating: not rated. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

The artist separates the young man and woman by tearing their photo in half. He brings them back to life by placing the crumpled photograph halves on a ruler. The man and woman dance on the ruler as the artist holds it in his hand.

Curator’s notes

The magic of special effects means that the artist as the controller is able to manipulate the young couple, moving them from reality to still life to reality to still life in an ongoing sequence. The imagery of the hand inevitably crumpling them back into fiction is both part of the fascination of the film, but also a slightly unsettling reflection of the power of the hand of the artist.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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