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First
Open University programme for 91Èȱ¬ ONE explores Art Deco
Deco:
The Art of Glamour, a lavish Open University/91Èȱ¬ special for 91Èȱ¬
ONE screening on 26 March at 10.35pm, tells the dynamic story of
one of the most sumptuous art themes the world has known.
This,
the first OU programme to be shown on 91Èȱ¬ ONE, coincides with the
opening of the Victoria & Albert Museum's prestigious Art Deco 1910-1939
exhibition, opening on 27 March, and includes exclusive pre-opening
footage from the exhibition itself.
Narrated
by Jerry Hall, herself an Open University student, the programme
tells a story that takes in fashion, film, photography, music and
architecture, as it tracks the development of Art Deco – from its
Roaring Twenties beginning in Paris to a high-spirited zenith that
was swiftly halted by the outbreak of the Second World War.
As
the programme shows, the movement brought new levels of excitement
to the pleasure palaces – the hotels, cocktail bars, cinemas and
ocean liners – that sprang up in the fast-changing modern world
of the 1920s.
A liberating
force that was a necessary antidote to the horrors of the First
World War, the style was a global phenomenon that reached beyond
the boundaries of the fine and decorative arts – evolving from a
luxury style for the rich and famous to become a style dream for
the masses.
The
film begins in Paris where – during its Jazz Age – the creative
energy of the city fed the search for a new and vibrant style after
the demise of art nouveau.
By
the mid-1920s, Art Deco had reached a global audience thanks, in
part, to the Paris exhibition of 1925, when the fusion of art and
shopping brought the movement to the everyday consumer.
Exotic
French deco designs earned the Atlantic-going Normandie the tag
of "the greatest liner ever built". The liner herself – a fusion
of technology and taste – helped to spread the word about the style
to America. Never-before-seen colour archive of the Normandie is
included in the programme.
As
construction technology prompted the popularity of skyscrapers,
the programme moves on to the iconic Chrysler Building in New York,
where Deco provided the style to adorn it.
Deco:
The Art of Glamour goes on to explore the movement's last great
development – streamlining, epitomised in the Cadillac. As a symbol
of progress and technological development, it had wide-ranging effects
and came to represent the vibrancy and mass appeal of American culture
worldwide by the late 1930s.
The
programme also features footage from the Maharaja's Palace in Jodphur,
said to be the finest example of Art Deco left in the world.
The
programme ends as the movement's frivolity and playfulness were
cut short by the outbreak of the Second World War, when austerity
and sobriety became the watch-words.
The
V&A exhibition, which runs until 20 July, includes more than 300
works.
Highlights
include original architectural elements from the foyer of London's
Strand Palace Hotel, which the museum is restoring for the exhibition;
exquisite Cartier Art Deco jewellery; and works by artists including
Fernard Leger, Sonia and Robert Delaunay and Constantin Brancusi.
Deco:
The Art of Glamour is an Open University production for the 91Èȱ¬.
The
programme producer is Francis Whatley and the executive producer
is Basil Comely. Programme executive for the Open University is
Chris Palmer.
All the
91Èȱ¬'s digital services are now available on ,
the new free-to-view digital terrestrial television service, as well
as on satellite and cable.
Freeview
offers the 91Èȱ¬'s eight television channels, interactive services
from 91Èȱ¬i, as well as 11 91Èȱ¬ radio networks.
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