All Divided Selves

"All Divided Selves," for which the artist Luke Fowler was nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2012, is a portrait of the Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, a prominent figure of anti-psychiatry. Fowler questions the boundary between normality and insanity, presenting an elaborate collage of old TV chronicles, archival photos and recordings of psychiatric sessions.

An important formal element of the movie are the expressions of many narrators, which create the effect of fragmentation and polyphony "of all divided selves" of the Scottish psychiatrist. Fowler looks critically at the concept of "mental illness" and perfectly captures Laing’s personality, who was known for his experimental approach to therapeutic solutions, designed to respect the autonomy of the person.

Luke Fowler is one of the most intriguing contemporary video artists. He became famous for his innovative approach to the film narrative, which he builds using found footage and superimpositions of audio and video material.