Alone but not Lost

Here's a man all alone who did not 'beweep his outcast state.' Ian Fairweather, the subject of the documentary 'Fairweather Man' directed by Aviva Ziegler which I saw at a special screening at the Australian Film School, is a haunting and haunted person whose sad eyes follow you out of the auditorium and beyond. After a tormented childhood, unlike modern adventurers, this man went on a solo sea journey for a real purpose and emerged from it a changed and focused artist.

There is an air of discovery throughout this film which coincides with the comparative lack of information about the artist anywhere else - even on the net but for aficionados the power of this strange painter is well known. His transformative journey across the Timor Sea is wonderfully captured and, coinciding with his diary records, creates the world of sense and illusion he endured whilst drifting on his raft, staring at the sun by day and the stars by night as his eyes began to fail but not his mind. He lived for the rest of his life on the perception this journey provided.

Born in Scotland in 1891, Ian Fairweather was a true child of Empire. When his parents sailed back to India, he was left with his grandmother and maiden aunts and, seeing them you wonder how he came out of it alive. The maiden aunts resemble something even Disney, in his wildest dreams could not have cooked up and, in their less than tender care, the handsome little boy spent eight years of his life before he saw his family again. From then on it was the usual catastrophe - boarding school, the army, World War 1, escape, incarceration but finally, lessons in art culminating in his enrolment at the Slade in London.

'Fairweather Man' is a delicate interweaving of drama and documentary with additional footage so beautifully set that the whole is a seamless tapestry. Add to this the marvelous paintings and interviews with friends, family and arts luminaries to present a fascinating insight into one of our greats. I know the raft reenactment provided all sorts of logistical problems for the production but it shows how well a life can be brought back when skillfully handled. As David Marr said of Biography - "It should make you feel as if you have met the person." Watch ABC 1 next Thursday 16th July at 9.30pm and meet Mr. Fairweather.


To see a short feature on Ian Fairweather's painting 'Monsoon', click here:

'Fairweather Man' is available on DVD from: https://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/807426