The Fox and The
Hedgehog is an experimental film created by Toby Lloyd and Andrew
Wilson; the title references Isiah Berlin's famous essay 'The
Hedgehog and The Fox' in which Berlin defines the way in which people
think. He postulates that thinkers can be divided into two
categories; hedgehogs who see the world through the viewpoint of a
single overarching idea and foxes who draw upon a collection of
experiences and for whom the world simply cannot be delimited by a
singular idea. Despite becoming one of his most popular essays Berlin
insisted that he did not mean the idea seriously, but rather an
intellectual game. (Jahanbegloo,
2000).
This
flavour of an intellectual game based on a simple dichotomy perfectly
encapsulates the film created by Lloyd and Wilson. The film was
created using discussions from three different groups from three
different areas in which they were presented a set of short clips
(the same each time) and invited to respond. The resulting
conversation was recorded and aspects of each discussion was used to
form part of the finished film.
On
first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that this could be
just another one of 'those' art films, lacking narrative and
structure often these artistic experimental films can seem somewhat
obtuse. However, it would be a mistake to merely dismiss 'The Fox and
The Hedgehog,' it was witty and clever and thoroughly entertaining,
no mean feat. The film presented carefully curated clips from across
the internet exploring the Berlin Dichotomy of amateur vs. expert and
the interspersed responses from the artist's workshops demonstrate
how a superficially simple idea can lead to a vast array of
responses.
As
mentioned the title presents the dichotomy of amateur vs. expert; one
portrayed as learned and studious with the ability to focus on one
aspect at a time, to understand a single topic thoroughly. Conversely
the fox is presented as a jack of all trades, unable to focus on one
element, surrounded by noise, ideas, tools but no deep rooted
knowledge, perhaps representative of the digital age in which any one
individual has the ability to access knowledge but instead of
utilising this to expand their field of knowledge it instead is
broken down into a series of memes, sound bites and GIFs. We have the
access to infinite knowledge but not the willingness to truly process
it.
The
screening took place in Liverpool Small Cinema, a small volunteer run
cinema and following the film the attendees were welcomed to further
discuss the aspects of the film they found interesting or responded
to The post film discussion certainly added to the themes explored
in the film, a testament to the fact that the film poses more
questions rather than it answers, as all good art should.
The
film's success is largely due to the careful and methodical selection
of material adding to a coherent whole, each sound bite separately
would have little or no added layer of meaning but together they form
a powerful statement that leaves the viewer to question and to
reconsider how they view many aspects of their own life.
The Fox & Hedgehog has been supported by:
Arts Council England, The NewBridge Project, East St. Arts, Metal, Launchpad, reVision, Together for Peace and Flatpack Film Festival, Protohome and The Liverpool Small Cinema.
Arts Council England, The NewBridge Project, East St. Arts, Metal, Launchpad, reVision, Together for Peace and Flatpack Film Festival, Protohome and The Liverpool Small Cinema.
