SHIFT: Joseph Doubtfire

The role of the artist-teacher is ‘inherently collage-like’. It not only cobbles together the identities of the artist and the teacher, but tacks on the conditions of the slashy, the side hustle, the second job; the extras required by artists to sustain their practice.

In this film, artist and educator Joseph Doubtfire explores how the practice of collage brought about a new understanding of his hyphenated identity.

Piecing together references as he would a collage, Joseph recounts how the practice enabled him to visualise the relationship between his work as a teacher and his work as an artist, and how his collages comprise not only the literal material from his teaching but an ongoing dialogue with his students.

This film is part of SHIFT, Freelands Foundation’s seasonal series of short films spotlighting varied practices, approaches and philosophies within art education. 

All audiovisual material and research is courtesy of the artist.

Captions and editing by Sixbetween.