Florence: New Reactions

(Running time: 48 minutes) 

Each year, the  RSA John Kinross Scholarship enables ten final year and postgraduate art and architecture students the opportunity to research and develop their practice in Florence for up to three months. After the completion of the scholarship, each artist deposits a work in the RSA Collection that resulted from their time in Florence. Over the years, most works were in the form of paintings, drawings, sketchbooks or photographs. However, in recent times an increasing number of artists have submitted moving image works. This is a selection of six of those from RSA Collections. 

Abigail Dryburgh, The Bargello, 2015 (3:33)  

Sophie Lunts, Il Palimpsesto, 2020 (1:25)  

Harry Casey, Nuova Cronica, 2012-13 (18:07)  

John Kellock, Shall Not Lovers Weep, 2011 (7:00)  

Anna Hughes, Silk Scarves for a Tomboy, 2015 (4:43)  

Rachel McBrinn, Luigi Mecocci, via dei Velluti, Firenze, 2015 (12:36) 

Abigail Dryburgh uses architectural computer-aided design to reimagine the Bargello; Sophie Lunts explores the palimpsest concept of erasure and reinstatement to reveal Florentine details; Harry Casey takes us beyond the great culture and tourist tat in search of the real city; John Kellock presents us with an image of the Ponte Vecchio that almost feels like a still image, but for the tiny active figure and the slow progress of the River Arno; Anna Hughes presents us with an elegant and witty work contemplating the mysteries of image, translation and gender; Rachel McBrinn offers a sensitive and well-crafted documentary about a dedicated Florentine craftsman. 

All these films share personal observations of, and offer us new insights into, Florence. 

John Kellock, Shall Not Lovers Weep, 2011 (still)