21st Century Mythologies - with Richard Clay
Clearstory for BBCFour (1 x 60' )
Art Historian Richard Clay explores how the 1957 book Mythologies by French philosopher Roland Barthes laid bare the myth-making at the heart consumer culture. After Barthes, the world never looked the same again. Now, following in Barthes’ footsteps, Richard Clay dissects some of the everyday things we still take for granted in the 21st Century.
It’s a journey that takes us from Paris to Margate, from Manhattan’s streets to Florence’s Accademia meeting avant-garde artists including Ingrid Burrington, Molly Soda, Rene Matic and Clet Abraham, whose work subverts the assumptions underpinning how we see our world. We are introduced to semiotics, Barthes’ study of signs and symbols, an analytical tool kit that helps us navigate advertising and demands on our attention. In today’s world of relentless digital information, Richard Clay argues, myths have the ability to hoodwink us more than ever. What might Roland Barthes have made of the 21st Century?
“Barthes' complex ideas about myths and signs are neatly explained – its fascinating” TheTimes
"Makes the kind of intellectually stimulating TV that gives BBC Four its identity” The Guardian
'Pick of the Day' in The Telegragh, The Guardian, The Times
Commissioning Editor: Mark Bell
Presenter: Richard Clay
Production Company: Clearstory
Production Manager: Clare Burns
Camera: Tom Harrad
Editor: Rhiannon Mayer
Executive Producer: Russell Barnes
Producer /Director: Amanda Rubin