For the 25th anniversary of the Absa L’Atelier arts competition, we created art to promote art. Taking inspiration from Henri Matisse’s famous line, “Creativity Takes Courage”, we produced 4 unscripted documentaries covering the lives of four artists. The culmination of these documentaries was a piece of their work, which was then tattooed onto their bodies.

The artists were filmed over a two-week period, at odd times during the day and night, using many different types of camera and recording equipment. The only person interacting with the subjects was the director who asked personal questions about their lives and their art.