Further Direction

Cinema is dead?

Exploring articles written by Peter Greenaway of the issue of cinemas demise. Relating these to literary theorists such as Roland Barthes and Jonathan Culler on Deconstruction theory. Within all of this is the notion of authorship, Micheal Foucault (1969) explores this in his essay What is an Author?.

Authorship is entwined within my practice as, as an artist it is easy to sub contract certain aspects of the work to 3rd parties, in essence allowing for outsider input to occur. This is where Barthes relates as his essay The Death of the Author is relevant to this argument. Exploring this within my research and practice will allow for a clearer view and understanding of the subject(s) that I'm researching.

Introduction

My interest within the cinema and gallery relationship stems from my own artistic practice which surrounds the subject of film and video technologies and how they are exhibited within a contemporary Gallery space. The use of technologies both old/defunct and new/modern takes various forms within my practice these include lens based media as well as creating technological sculptures focused around the notions of the media/medium itself.

In particular my practice focuses on the link between the projections within cinematic environments and the gallery projections, looking at it from an objective stand point. Surrounding my masters research as well as the aforementioned projections, I look behind the scenes of cinema and projection equipment onto the mechanical process and structures they form. If anything the content becomes irrelevant, it becomes a Structuralist view of the medium recording itself.

Having said this I've also explored the more artistic notions of editing the content captured through photographic work or super 8 film recording. Even here the theory of Structuralism becomes involved as even though the two processes in which I work are separate, implying separate processes, Structuralism ensures that everything is connected.

When applying projections/installations into the formula the research becomes Post-Structuralist as the art works are cut apart, separated from the meaning and projected into an unbiased space. Post-Structuralist theory suggests that symbols are cut radically adrift from material reality, as Colin Perry states; "it seems tailor-made for cinema".

The processes I've explored within my practice and research reflect a sense of technology, choosing to use defunct recording equipment to create a link between the past and the present without straying towards nostalgia. My objective position allows me to immerse myself in the genre/theme without having the pressure of passing judgment upon the objects and themes I apply.

All in all my practice and research involves the medium not the content it creates.