Duncan Campbell

Duncan Campbell is an Irish video artist based in Glasgow, he trained at the University of Ulster and the Glasgow School of Art. Campbell was the recipient of the 2014 Turner Prize for his video work It for Others.

His art is often based on intense archival research and deals with a wide range of subjects including Northern Irish politician Bernadette Devlin, the DeLorean car project, and German economist Hans Tietmeyer. His films are concerned with these histories and how they bear on the present. In particular, Campbell uses his films to explore how social, political, and personal narratives are constructed and relayed over time.

As such, he not only questions the degree to which documentary is fiction, but he also problematises the accepted authority and integrity of cultural records. Archival elements are therefore interwoven with Campbell’s various personal understandings and interpretations, as imagery of his own construction is mashed-up with found, official documentation and original footage. Such is the spirit of Campbell’s work: his smart, precisely crafted films convey engaging alternate stories and portraits.