In this thesis, the concepts of authenticity and transparency in two works of Shirley Clarke are explored. These three works are The Connection and Portrait of Jason. In order to do so, important...Show moreIn this thesis, the concepts of authenticity and transparency in two works of Shirley Clarke are explored. These three works are The Connection and Portrait of Jason. In order to do so, important works of Antonin Artaud, Bertold Brecht and André Bazin are used as a theoretical framework in the chapter on The Connection. The concept of performativity as described by Stella Bruzzi and also by Judith Butler is used as a theoretical framework in the chapter of Portrait of Jason.Show less
Although film festivals have been around for almost a century, film festival studies is a fairly recent phenomenon and the number of festivals that exist today speaks to their importance. It could...Show moreAlthough film festivals have been around for almost a century, film festival studies is a fairly recent phenomenon and the number of festivals that exist today speaks to their importance. It could be said that what is commonly known as the ‘International Film Festival Circuit’ has now become more akin to a ‘Film Festival Galaxy’. Due to a major proliferation of festivals in the last twenty years, many critics and scholars have predicted a collapse of the whole system, and despite a seeming surplus, festivals have continued to develop and, most importantly, specialize. As the new festival "galaxy" shows no indication of slowing in growth, this thesis looks at the role of specialized film festivals in the Netherlands and how the different programming and marketing strategies remains sustainable despite fears of over-saturation.Show less
This thesis provides an analysis of the presentation and use of time in films. The central case studies look at the films of Taiwan-based director, Tsai-Ming Liang. The films analysed are: Goodbye...Show moreThis thesis provides an analysis of the presentation and use of time in films. The central case studies look at the films of Taiwan-based director, Tsai-Ming Liang. The films analysed are: Goodbye Dragon Inn (2003), Stray Dogs (2013), and What Time Is It There? (2001). Alongside these, I will also discuss a selection of other films that use the device of the long take. The first chapter deals with the construction of narrative time and real time in films which employ long takes and have plots that are based on a linear time model. This analyis forms a critical position on André Bazin’s theorization of long take. The second chapter explores how non-linear temporality can be constructed in films which make extensive use of long takes. The chapter uses Gilles Deleuze’s notion of time- image as the main framework. These findings regarding the formal structure of films and their temporal structures are then explored further in the third chapter. The third chapter focuses on the contemporary social modalities of time. To do this, it will look closely at the ways in which films depict the kind of social time that emerged in Taiwanese post-industrial society operating under the logic of late-capitalism.Show less
This thesis consists of three chapters, each built up around a case study. The three chapters are divided in temporal sense. In the first chapter the concept of a continuous now is central to the...Show moreThis thesis consists of three chapters, each built up around a case study. The three chapters are divided in temporal sense. In the first chapter the concept of a continuous now is central to the analysis of the case study, the second chapter has a relation with the future, and the final chapter is related with the notion of history. What the films have in common is that in each film the protagonist undergoes a trauma. How the counter-chronological and ‘a-temporal’ narrative structure of these films problematizes the film ending is observed, analyzed and linked to the psychoanalytic notion of drive and desire. Furthermore, throughout the flow of chapters, I will analyze to what extent this manner of ending a film has ideological implications. Psychoanalysis as a tool to analyze film and its protagonists is used as a theoretical framework to analyze the ideological implications these film endings might have. More specific, starting from the angle of the ‘Lacanian’ Mirror Screen theory it is questioned to what extent the apparatus theory is challenged and problematized by these specific films and their endings. Moreover the concept of the simulacrum, as an extreme notion of ideology is questioned and criticized. The notion of ideology, and violence are approached from a ‘Lacanian’, or, I should emphasize, ‘Žižekian’ point of view. I argue that these films in order of appearance demonstrate that the concept of the simulacrum by Baudrillard needs to be reconsidered and redefined in relation with the traumatic kernel of the real, or should be considered irrelevant, and moreover, I argue that the apparatus theory needs to be redefined.Show less
This thesis examines the relation between image and sound in contemporary art, with particular reference to the role of sound in film and video art installations. The starting point of this...Show moreThis thesis examines the relation between image and sound in contemporary art, with particular reference to the role of sound in film and video art installations. The starting point of this research theme is the observation that the present-day museum and gallery spaces are no longer the silent institutions they once were with the presence of loudspeakers in many installations. This trend opens up the discussion of sound as an instrument in artistic film practices to specifically direct the attention of the viewer within the moving image. Therefore, the primary focus of this study is the investigation into the added value of listening to sound in the visual arts. An in-depth analysis of film and video art installations by artists Steve McQueen (Drum Roll, Western Deep), Anri Sala (Answer Me, Long Sorrow), Tacita Dean (Foley Artist, Sound Mirrors) and Luke Fowler (A Grammar for Listening) is aimed at uncovering the audiovisual strategies that the artists employ to elicit a specific mode of spectatorship: to activate the spectator in the exhibition space by means of a physical address as well as to affect the spectator on an affective or emotional level. This active model of spectatorship is eventually presented as audio-spectatorship, in which the viewer-listener is heavily affected by the physical address and the outcome of the sensory experience of the filmic artwork so that disinterested contemplation at a critical distance is ultimately no longer an option. Listening to the Visual Arts: The Added Value of Sound in Contemporary Film and Video Art is part of more general critical appraisal of the visual supremacy in the humanities.Show less
This thesis examines how the work of Majida Khattari and Lalla Essaydi explores notions of history, culture, identity and power in the broader framework of ‘East’-‘West’ relationships and...Show moreThis thesis examines how the work of Majida Khattari and Lalla Essaydi explores notions of history, culture, identity and power in the broader framework of ‘East’-‘West’ relationships and representations, and in particular of (neo-)Orientalism. It investigates how photography, as a medium of re-presentation and re-production, can be used as a tool for de-construction and re-imagination. Through the analysis of Khattari and Essaydi’s work the thesis explores if and how their appropriation of nineteenth century Orientalist aesthetics ‘speaks back to’, and thereby deconstructs, (neo-)Orientalism.Show less
This thesis investigates the reasons for the reappearance of late modernist utopian architectural projects in recent artist films. Three films by three different artists (Martha Rosler, Dorit...Show moreThis thesis investigates the reasons for the reappearance of late modernist utopian architectural projects in recent artist films. Three films by three different artists (Martha Rosler, Dorit Margreiter and Patrick Keiller) have been selected for their critical use of post-war architecture in film or video and the way they look specifically at suggestions of revolutionary social changes to the concept of the house. In each chapter one film or video is examined in relation to the architectural project(s) it discusses, specifically with regards to the intentions of the architect. Rosler, Margreiter and Keiller show three ways of reflecting upon the way we think about late modernist housing, a type of housing that was extremely ambitious in attempting to change the way we think about shelter and social communities, and is, at least stylistically, still of great influence to the architectural projects that are built today. All three artists have a distinct political awareness that appears in the way they discuss architecture. Consisting of structures that consolidate ideology, architecture is fascinating for the profound influence it has on our everyday life. I argue that the return of modernist utopias in the collective cultural imagination shows a need for a cautiously hopeful attitude towards a future that moves beyond the so-called end of history. These three artists look towards futures that were suggested in the recent past, futures that have been long since dismissed, and try to find elements that may be salvaged from their way of looking towards structural social change that might be of use for us today in combating the effects of neo-liberal influence on everyday life. Because of its contingent, disembodied and fragmented nature, film proves to be the ideal medium for investigation and can be seen as creating its own version of radically subjective utopia in each case study.Show less
The artist-as-archivist is not a new concept. Artists have been dealing with the archive for some time, mostly employing personal or found material. There is a small group of artists that works...Show moreThe artist-as-archivist is not a new concept. Artists have been dealing with the archive for some time, mostly employing personal or found material. There is a small group of artists that works with fictional archives, meaning that the archives they produce are made from scratch. These archives do not necessarily represent actual events but rather point towards issues surrounding the archives that seem problematic. This thesis will look at three of these fictional archives and bring them in connection with postmodern archival theory. This theory advocates a more open and active archive, and in this context it seems possible to discuss fictional archives and their implications. Aspects such as identity, minorities, production of knowledge, Institutional Critique, trauma and the writing of history will be considered. As the three main case studies will serve The Fae Richards Photo Archive (1996) by Zoe Leonard, Fauna Secreta (1985) by Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera and The Atlas Group (1989-2004), initiated by Walid Raad.Show less
This thesis discusses the technological history of the photo booth and photo booth photography as a social and artistic practice. Each chapter focuses on a different subject relating to significant...Show moreThis thesis discusses the technological history of the photo booth and photo booth photography as a social and artistic practice. Each chapter focuses on a different subject relating to significant characteristics of photo booth photography. Taking photos in a photo booth is a deliberate act and can be considered as a significant experience. Therefore, the first chapter reflects on this process and considers the photo booth strip as photo-object and memory object. Subsequently the focus shifts towards the content of the image: the self-portrait. The photo booth is widely known as a machine to take identification photos with. In the second chapter I shall address this subject, to be discussed within the context of the construction of identity. Upon entering a photo booth, one goes into a secluded environment, which evokes a feeling of privacy. The booths, however, are often located in public space. The third and final chapter of this thesis will focus on this contradiction and discuss the photo booth and its products in relation to the notions of private and public, and more specifically how this relation has changed under the influence of digitalisation. Every chapter begins to discuss the use of the photo booth by regular users, to further investigate the topics through the analysis of artistic practices.Show less
This thesis is a genealogy of photography as a communicative object, one that goes against the grain of photography as a memento. The phenomenon that has triggered my interest is Snapchat, a...Show moreThis thesis is a genealogy of photography as a communicative object, one that goes against the grain of photography as a memento. The phenomenon that has triggered my interest is Snapchat, a smartphone app with which photographs can be exchanged that disappear almost immediately. My genealogical method, as inspired by Michel Foucault, is not one of looking for origins; I acknowledge the inconsistencies and vicissitudes of history. Rather, my aim is to establish how conditions were shaped in order for a phenomenon such as Snapchat to emerge. Throughout my research I assess how the paradox of the photograph as memento versus the photograph as communicative object has affected photography’s relation to terms such as memory and communication over the course of a number of decades. In order to establish productive analyses, I use examples from vernacular photography as well as art photography and conceptual art. The family photo album, Instagram, and Fiona Tan’s Vox Populi are the protagonists in the first chapter, in which I assess the altered relation between photography and memory. In the second chapter, On Kawara, the picture postcard, and Polaroid photograph serve to illustrate some characteristics of visual, photographic communication. The emphasis in such interactions is on the transfer of phatic messages, an exchange in which the photograph as an object plays a mere verificatory role; it helps the sender to tell the recipient that they are still alive. The third chapter centres on the disappearance of the photograph that is the consequence of Snapchat and other disappearing-photo-apps. At a time in which we amass daunting amounts of photographs, Snapchat has begun to relieve us somehow from the burden of remembrance and time-consuming structuring processes, but clearly, it does not operate without collateral damage. Certainly, the way in which photography functions as part of our daily life is rapidly altering. Snapchat’s wealth of ambiguities complicates straightforward interpretation, certainly at this stage in time when it is still relatively new. Could it be considered an inherent critique of the way in which we build our online identities, or is it inextricably part of the social media machine? Does it enable a renewed sense of intimacy, or is it the epitome of contemporary alienation? Through the continuous publicness of our private lives, much of the distinction between what used to be the private and the public has collapsed. Snapchat provides an answer to this situation in the sense that it offers its users a right to be forgotten, yet also, the consistent exposure and interaction it motivates leaves little room for privacy. And contrary to what many believe, this increased exposure does not seem to make us more visually literate, and it never ceases to overwhelm us. More than ever, Snapchat has made visual communication to be about its “here I am” value, and less and less about the photograph itself. Clearly, it is not an isolated phenomenon as such, rather, it is symptomatic for many widespread societal changes, attitudes and developments. As you will read, Snapchat’s inconsistencies cannot currently be solved, but arguably, that should not be seen as a weakness. On the contrary: they demonstrate the complexity of the phenomenon that I have studied.Show less
