Provide the name of the practitioner, the title of the work, the date when it was made, and a link to the work. 

#NGVEveryDay: Monet’s ‘Rough weather at Étretat is an IGTV video produced by the NGV. It was published on their Instagram account on July 28, 2020. The video work can be accessed here:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDLXL3WH9f7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

Provide some context on the visual content by summarising the content, the context of publication, and the audience it targets. 

This video was produced as part of NGV’s #NGVEveryDay series. It is a guided virtual tour of Monet’s artwork, ‘Rough weather at Étretat (Gros Temps à Étretat)’. It is presented by Ted Gott, the Senior Curator of International Art. Through his audio narration, he illustrates the painting’s historical significance and the creative choices made by Monet in this artwork. The video is relevant to the NGV’s strategic aim of connecting audiences with art, knowledge and ideas, as it is an informative video snippet about the artwork. The NGV has over 355k followers on Instagram and as a result the reach of their content is quite wide. This video in particular targets fans of the artist Monet, existing patrons of the gallery, people interested in art and artists, those who are engaged by story and those following the #NGVEveryDay hashtag.

How was the visual content made technically? 

The visuals have been recorded using high quality camera(s) to give the video a professional looking appearance. This indicates a level of refinement that the gallery can provide to their audience. It consists of sweeping pans across the artwork, and shots of the gallery space to display the painting within the context of the art gallery. Overall, the video has an austere atmosphere. The audio emphasises this as it consists of a piano soundtrack and narration from the Senior Curator of International Art. During post production, closed captions have been provided for the narration. The video is in the 9:16 portrait format which displays well on mobile devices. This would suit the context their audience will be accessing the video from.

How does this piece of visual content fit into the art galleries media and communication strategies? What is it trying to achieve? 

In this video work, the device of storytelling is used to draw in the viewer and educate them about the artist and the painting’s context in history. In the NGV’s 2018-2019 Annual Report, the gallery states: “The NGV maintains a holistic approach to programming, customer service and audience engagement initiatives to empower audiences to engage meaningfully with art and design” (NGV, 2019). By providing connections to the artwork through virtual tours, the NGV is facilitating connections between audiences and the gallery space. It aims to invite their audience to contemplate the meaning behind the artwork. It also reminds them that the gallery is focused on their needs, as they are committed to genuine community engagement. The gallery recognises that the NGV Collection exists for the community to access and enjoy (NGV, 2019).

Why did you choose this particular work?

I chose this video work as I am a follower of the NGV’s Instagram and a fan of Monet’s artwork. I was immediately invested in discovering the context behind this specific piece, as I had this video appear on my feed shortly after its publication. I became immersed in the story behind the artwork through the narration and music. I appreciated the up-close detail shots of the brushstrokes within the piece. I believe that art should be accessible to everyone and even those with a casual interest in artwork should be given the chance to appreciate the history behind each piece. The video demonstrates the gallery’s commitment to building a relationship between its patrons and the artwork on display.

What do you find inspiring about the content and form? 

Something that inspired me about this work was that the high quality production of the video made me feel like I was visiting the gallery myself, and I felt nostalgic about walking through the gallery space. The video went in-depth into Monet’s perspective of the seaside town, but presented the information within a very short time frame which captured my attention. The gallery is successful in using short format video to produce an analysis of the work in an engaging way. Having an expert (the Senior Curator) commentate on the artwork gives the audience an informed view on Monet’s work. I also believe using vertical video gives the content more of a visual presence in their feed and a larger appearance on audiences’ news feeds. This format is something I would like to explore in my own authoring of content moving forward into our collaboration with McClelland.