United Kingdom

The Directors

Free
Visual Arts

Marcus Coates, The Directors, is presented in Aotearoa New Zealand, by Te Tuhi in collaboration with Artangel London as part of the Auckland Arts Festival.

The Directors is a collaboration between artist Marcus Coates and five individuals with lived experience of psychosis. Following a prolonged period of research and development, each directed Coates in a film where he attempted to enact their experiences. Mark Banham, Lucy Dempster, Anthony Donohoe, Marcus Gordon, and Stephen Groves each chose a place of significance where they directed Coates to play themselves as they voiced instructions off camera.

Commissioned by Artangel in London, UK and originally screened in five locations in and around Churchill Gardens Estate in the London borough of Pimlico, Te Tuhi's collaboration with Artangel mirrors the same format and presents the project in five central Auckland locations with one of the five films being screened in each location.

Coates' research began in 2017 at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust where he worked alongside psychiatrist Dr Isabel Valli, observing her consultations with patients. The focus of his research considered the dynamics of personal understanding and empathy and the role of the wider community and public attitudes.

The Directors seeks to establish a creative and reciprocal dialogue between Coates and each director; a shared attempt to describe and understand the individuality and complexity of their experiences. For both Coates and the directors, initiating this empathetic process was motivated by a need to share the directors’ stories, together with the necessity to confront and reduce public stigma around psychosis.

The Directors: Stephen
Directed by Stephen Groves.
Location: Toi Ora Live Art Trust.
6 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland 1021.
Step-free access to ground floor with accessible toilet.

The Directors: Lucy
Directed by Lucy Dempster.
Location: Yellow Brick Road.
423 Great North Road, Grey Lynn, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland 1021.
Step-free access with accessible toilet.

The Directors: Mark
Directed by Mark Banham.
Location: DEMO.
3 Water Street, Grafton, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland 1023.
Step-free access with accessible toilet.

The Directors: Anthony
Directed by Anthony Donohoe.
Location: Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery.
40 St Paul Street, CBD, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland 1010.
Step-free access to ground floor with accessible toilet and accessible lift to the 5th floor.

The Directors: Marcus
Directed by Marcus Gordon.
Location: Parnell Project Space.
Parnell Station, 25 Cheshire Street, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Step-free access with accessible toilet.

For a short preview of the films, information about each director’s story and interviews click here

For an interactive map showing venue locations click here

For more information visit Te Tuhi’s website here

The Directors is produced by Artangel and commissioned with Art Fund Support. Supported by Artangel’s Guardian Angels.

With special thanks to The Executive Producers for their generosity:
Andrew Abdulezer, Martine d’Anglejan-Chatillon, James Brett, Robert Devereux, Gerry Fox, Gabriela Galcerán Ball, Kate MacGarry, Gabrielle Rifkind & Jonathan Levy, The Sigrid Rausing Trust and those who wish to remain anonymous.

The Directors is part of The Artangel Collection, an initiative to bring outstanding film and video works, commissioned and produced by Artangel, to galleries and museums across the UK and internationally. The Artangel Collection has been developed in partnership with Tate, is generously supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Foyle Foundation and uses public funding from Arts Council England.

Te Tuhi would like to thank Wall Real Estate for their generous support for the educational materials associated with the presentation of The Directors in Aotearoa.