In this video Todd McMillan draws inspiration from a work by the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, 'Monk by the Sea' (1809). As the artist notes, Friedrich’s monk is said to be a self-portrait and embodies the ‘melancholy man’ of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a time that was characterised by a value system that saw sadness and solitude as an ideal condition for the production of art. In 'By the sea' McMillan re-creates the painting as a performance. The artist filmed himself for 12 hours, from dusk to dawn, facing towards the bleak ocean in search of enlightenment. However, in the end, nothing was achieved; ultimately introspection and self-reflection did not bring any answers or renewed wisdom, and a longing for more remained. (MCA catalogue notes)