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230 pages

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A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Elwes takes a journey through the twin histories of landscape art and experimental moving image and discovers how they coalesce in the work of artists from the 1970s to the present day.

Drawing on a wide geographical sampling, Elwes considers issues that have preoccupied film and video artists over the years, ranging from ecology, gender, race, performativity, conflict, colonialism and our relationship to the nonhuman creatures with whom we share our world. The book is informed by the belief that artists can provide an embodied, emotional response to landscape, which is an essential driver in the urgent task of combating the environmental crisis we now face.

The book comprises a series of essays that explore how the moving image mediates our relationship to and understanding of landscapes. The focus is on artists’ film and video and draws on work from the 1970s to the present day. Early chapters map the theoretical terrain for both landscape and artists’ moving image creating a foundation for the chapters that follow devoted to practice. These address themes of identity politics, performativity and animals and examine examples of British ‘weather-blown films’ and work from around the world including Indigenous Australian film landscapes. The book offers an informed, personal view of the subject and threaded through the narrative is a concern with the environment and the vexed question of whether an appreciation of nature’s aesthetics undermines a commitment to ecology.

The book is written in a clear, engaging style and is enlivened by Elwes's own experiences as a video artist, writer and curator, and the primary material she draws on derived from conversations with fellow practitioners across the years.

As a practitioner, Elwes was a key figure in the early phases of video art in the UK as well as a curator and critic. She was professor of moving image art at the University of the Arts London; and is founding editor of the Moving Image Review & Art Journal (MIRAJ)

This book will appeal to students, undergraduate and post-graduate, Ph.D. candidates, researchers, practitioners, teachers and lecturers and a general readership of interested gallery-going public.

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

- The semiotics of the view

- Eco-critical practices

- The indivisibility of the human subject and nature

- The text

- The parameters

- Author’s note

2. The Terms of Engagement

- Landscape, space and place

- Inside and outside

- The ethnographic eye and documentary: Negotiations of the real

- The contested status of the real

- Taking a step back – crossing over

3. The Invention of Landscape

- Landscape, the antithesis of city life

- The sublime, the spiritual and the indifference of nature

- The picturesque and the pastoral

- The return of the picturesque and the romantic sublime

4. The Social Construction of Landscape

- National identity, society and history

- Framing trauma in the landscape

- Property, ownership, colonialism and class identity

5. Landscape Subjectivities

- Do you see what I see?

- The perceiving subject

- A template for seeing, touching, hearing and feeling

- Emotion, affect and sensation in nature

6. Painted Landscapes

- The tools of the trade

- Taking the eye for a walk – perspectives in painting

- The great outdoors

7. Frames and Sequences

- Photographing the view

- Slide-tape: Landscape in series

8. Talking Pictures: Narrative, Time, Colour and Sound

- ‘Nature caught in the act’

- Narrative film: Background and foreground

- The time base

- Colour and black-and-white

- Sound and silence

9. Talking Pictures: Framing the View and the Spectator

- Framing the view

- Point of view: The restless eye

- The spectator

10. Artists’ Moving Image

- ‘Unmade Narratives’: Experimental film

- Video: The travelling companion

- Digital media: No man’s land

- Photogénie and the entanglement of matter

11. Weather-Blown Film

- River Yar (1971–72), William Raban and Chris Welsby

- Theory: Clouds and clocks

- Wind Vane (1972), Chris Welsby

- Feedback: Cybernetics

12. Being-With: Rocks, Sea and Sky

- La Région Centrale (1971), Michael Snow

- Aspect (2004), Emily Richardson

- Sea-changed film: R.V. Ramani and David Gatten

- This Is My Land (2006), Ben Rivers

- Dawn Burn (1975–76), Mary Lucier

- Interwoven Motion (2004), Chris Meigh-Andrews

- The wide blue yonder: Semiconductor, Susan Collins, James Turrell and James Benning

13. Getting the Shivers: Empathic Projection and the Elements

- Jack Lauder and Lloyd Branson, Zacharias Kunuk, Oscar Muñoz, Bill Viola, Joan Jonas and William Raban

14. Anti-Terrain: Australasia and the ‘Vexed’ Question of Landscape

- Preconceptions

- The antipodean gaze

- Refiguring landscapes

- Imagining a future

15. Landscape and Identity Politics

- Signatures

- Slavery and the African Diaspora: The Black body in the landscape

- Mother Earth

- Queering the landscape

- Fault lines – masculinity

16. Performing the Landscape

- Acting out in Merrie England

- Performing matter

- Shifting the scenery

17. Animals

- A pantomime of animals

- Captive animals: A transaction of the gaze

- ‘Companion animals’

- Cruelty to animals

- Discreet courtship

18. Postscript

References

Index

Sujets

Cinéma

Cinema

Film

ART

Land Art

Photography

Environment

landscape

Environmental

Informations

Publié par	Intellect Books
Date de parution	29 mars 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781789385700
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Landscape and the Moving Image

Landscape and the Moving Image
Catherine Elwes
First published in the UK in 2022 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2022 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright 2022 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copy editor: MPS Limited
Cover designer: Aleksandra Szumlas
Cover image credit: Guy Sherwin, Paper Landscape (1975-2015), performance, Tate Britain, 15 June 2015. Reproduced with the kind permission of the artist.
Photo: Catherine Elwes.
Frontispiece image credit: Chris Welsby, Wind Vane (1972). Photo courtesy of the artist.
Production manager: Laura Christopher
Typesetter: MPS Limited
Hardback ISBN 978-1-78938-568-7
Paperback ISBN 978-1-78938-582-3
ePDF ISBN 978-1-78938-569-4
ePUB ISBN 978-1-78938-570-0
Printed and bound by Shortrun
To find out about all our publications, please visit our website.
There you can subscribe to our e-newsletter, browse or download our current catalogue and buy any titles that are in print.
www.intellectbooks.com
This is a peer-reviewed publication.
To Pearl April Edith Egling
Contents
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
The semiotics of the view
Eco-critical practices
The indivisibility of the human subject and nature
The text
The parameters
Author s note
2. The Terms of Engagement
Landscape, space and place
Inside and outside
The ethnographic eye and documentary: Negotiations of the real
The contested status of the real
Taking a step back - crossing over
3. The Invention of Landscape
Landscape, the antithesis of city life
The sublime, the spiritual and the indifference of nature
The picturesque and the pastoral
The return of the picturesque and the romantic sublime
4. The Social Construction of Landscape
National identity, society and history
Framing trauma in the landscape
Property, ownership, colonialism and class identity
5. Landscape Subjectivities
Do you see what I see?
The perceiving subject
A template for seeing, touching, hearing and feeling
Emotion, affect and sensation in nature
6. Painted Landscapes
The tools of the trade
Taking the eye for a walk - perspectives in painting
The great outdoors
7. Frames and Sequences
Photographing the view
Slide-tape: Landscape in series
8. Talking Pictures: Narrative, Time, Colour and Sound
Nature caught in the act
Narrative film: Background and foreground
The time base
Colour and black-and-white
Sound and silence
9. Talking Pictures: Framing the View and the Spectator
Framing the view
Point of view: The restless eye
The spectator
10. Artists Moving Image
Unmade Narratives : Experimental film
Video: The travelling companion
Digital media: No man s land
Photog nie and the entanglement of matter
11. Weather-Blown Film
River Yar (1971-72), William Raban and Chris Welsby
Theory: Clouds and clocks
Wind Vane (1972), Chris Welsby
Feedback: Cybernetics
12. Being-With: Rocks, Sea and Sky
La R gion Centrale (1971), Michael Snow
Aspect (2004), Emily Richardson
Sea-changed film: R.V. Ramani and David Gatten
This Is My Land (2006), Ben Rivers
Dawn Burn (1975-76), Mary Lucier
Interwoven Motion (2004), Chris Meigh-Andrews
The wide blue yonder: Semiconductor, Susan Collins, James Turrell and James Benning
13. Getting the Shivers: Empathic Projection and the Elements
Jack Lauder and Lloyd Branson, Zacharias Kunuk, Oscar Mu oz, Bill Viola, Joan Jonas and William Raban
14. Anti-Terrain: Australasia and the Vexed Question of Landscape
Preconceptions
The antipodean gaze
Refiguring landscapes
Imagining a future
15. Landscape and Identity Politics
Signatures
Slavery and the African Diaspora: The Black body in the landscape
Mother Earth
Queering the landscape
Fault lines - masculinity
16. Performing the Landscape
Acting out in Merrie England
Performing matter
Shifting the scenery
17. Animals
A pantomime of animals
Captive animals: A transaction of the gaze
Companion animals
Cruelty to animals
Discreet courtship
18. Postscript
References
Index
Acknowledgements
Many people have generously given of their time and expertise during the long gestation of this book. Projects such as Figuring Landscapes (2008–10) with Steven Ball, Danni Zuvela and Pat Hoffie, the AHRC Network [ Moving Image Review & Art Journal ( MIRAJ )] with Pratap Rughani and Eu Jin Chua (2011–12) and the contributors to MIRAJ (2011–on) itself have yielded invaluable insights into landscape and the moving image, as have conversations with many of the artists I discuss in this book. In particular, I would like to thank David E. James, David Curtis, Piers Brendon, Graeme Harper and Chris Welsby who read early versions of different chapters and offered invaluable advice; Angela Piccini for her forensic reading of the text; Sean Cubitt for his encouragement and sharing his excellent paper ‘Digital Landscape and Nature-Morte’ (2006); Maria Walsh on the finer points of theory; James Mackay on Derek Jarman; Steven Ball for every kind of advice; Jeff Doring for updating me on the Pathways Project; Stuart Brisley, Susan Collins, Chris Meigh-Andrews, Vera Frenkel, Smadar Dreyfus, Sarah Pucill, Matt Hulse, Andrew Kötting, Sarah Dobai, Madelon Hooykaas, Lynette Wallworth, Malcolm Le Grice, Arthur and Corinne Cantrill, Michal Snow, Bronwyn Platten, John Akomfrah, Semiconductor, Shona Illingworth, Ben Rivers, Leah Capaldi, William Raban, Nina Danino, Pam Skelton, Kim Lawler, Emily Richardson and George Barber for filling in the gaps in my knowledge of their work; Peggy Gale and Lisa Steele for the Canadian perspective; Conal McStravick for his thoughts on cowboy films; Amikam Toren for his healthy scepticism; Malcolm Andrews for our debate about the relative merits of landscape painting and landscape film; Judith Rugg for a discussion of ecofeminism; Joseph Taylor for his research into primates and stress; Ross Gibson for the Australian perspective; Eric Hirsch and Stan Frankland for the view from Anthropology; the late A. L. Rees for his bottomless reservoir of knowledge about film and for his optimism; Lucia Imaz King for her expertise on film and video in India; Al Cameron, Tim Smith, Angus Carlyle and Fay Hoolahan for pointing me to relevant texts; Ian Christie for his observations on slide-tape; Murray Smith for explaining empathy and affective mimicry; Lucy Reynolds for advice on all things artists’ moving image and for sharing her insightful MA thesis ‘Space in the Avant-Garde Landscape Films of William Raban and Chris Welsby’ (2001); Professor Oriana Baddeley and the University of the Arts London for generously subsidising the cost of colour reproductions; the late Jacqueline Morreau and the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation for a grant in 2011 towards my early landscape research; Jelena Stanovnik, Naomi Curston, Laura Christopher and the production team at Intellect, for their patience and support; all the artists who kindly provided me with images for the book especially Guy Sherwin who graces the cover; Vicky and Brian Harrison for friendship and writerly advice; the Yarnells Hill Saunterers and Book Club for walking and talking and, finally, Uwe Ackermann for cooking and pouring me a glass or three, and providing technical and moral support throughout – my debt to you is immeasurable.
1 Introduction

Landscapes are culture before they are nature; constructs of the imagination projected onto wood and water and rock.
Simon Schama ( 1995 : 61)
The semiotics of the view
In the contemporary art world, it is difficult to create a work in and about landscape without the uncomfortable feeling that it would be unethical, if not immoral, to exploit an encounter with nature solely for its ability to accommodate a repose for the senses . 1 While the Covid pandemic has heightened our instincts to seek out natural environments, it feels inappropriate to pursue spiritual and physical renewal in such wilderness as still can be found when we, as a species, represent the greatest threat to the wellbeing of our planet. Such an indulgence might appear to deny the parlous state of the environment at this critical juncture in the Anthropocene. 2 Even if it were possible to set aside our knowledge of the catastrophic impact of humanity upon the earth s ecologies, we might still struggle to create art that simply celebrates a magnificent view. But the difficulty is not restricted to issues of the environment. Any slice of landscape that the human eye commits to paper, canvas or film encompasses a range of ecological, social, political and historical realities, many of which have been suppressed by pictorial traditions in the West. For instance, the history of colonialism has been subsumed into romantic visions of far-distant lands populated by noble savages and bestiaries of unearthly creatures feasting on exotic plants. We might well agree with John Akomfrah that once we acknowledge how slavery has been conducted across global trade routes, any representation of land or sea can no longer close its eyes to the traces of this outrage. Drexciya has popularised an affirmative mythos of children born in the waves of the Middle Passage who survived when their mothers were cast from slave ships. 3 But these visions are not intended to elide the reality of enslavement, and in the words of Akomfrah, continents and the oceans, lakes and rivers that bisect and surround them have ceased to be innocent places . 4
If we wanted to avoid confronting colonialism and retrieve the innocence of our prelapsarian