The epitome of an oxymoronic endeavour : collaborative performative photography between still and movement artists : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
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Date
2017
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Massey University
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Abstract
‘Attempting to capture this transience, this constant appearing and disappearing, through the
medium of the still photograph might seem the epitome of oxymoronic endeavour’.
Michael Parmenter. (Parmenter, M. in McDermott 2015. p6).
An Oxymoronic Endeavour is the resulting artwork of a collaboration between
photographer, Celia Walmsley, and New Zealand dancer/choreographer (dance
maker), Jessie McCall. It combines two oxymoronic (apparently contradictory)
art forms where one artist is also the subject of the resulting images. McCall and
Walmsley co-author the development of the artwork and Walmsley is the author of
the exegesis.
Through this production collaboration Walmsley and McCall explored the oxymoronic
relationship and use of photography and movement. The resulting artwork is
not a recording of a performance that will be repeated. The choreography and
performance occurred only for the purpose of creating the images and exist only in
the resulting ‘performative’ (Baker. S. & Moran. F. 2016) photographic work and its
associated writing. The work breaks with the traditional style of dance photography,
and with the conventional role of ‘still’ photography in relation to dance, as the
‘revelatory authority’ (the power of the camera to show what has been) of other
artists’ work. (Reason. M. 2004).
Use of and the critique of, collaboration and co-authorship are essential elements
in the artwork’s process, form and outcomes. This reflects Daniel Palmer’s (2017)
proposal on the move away, since the 1960s, from the ‘art-world trope’ of sole
adventurer photographer towards collaborative work. Issues of agency, power, and
the link between authorship and authority, also influenced the work.
Through the essential component of collaboration An Oxymoronic Endeavour
developed into ‘performative’ photography between photographer and
choreographer/dance artist. The work contributes to the sparsely populated field of
collaborative ‘performative’ photography which also represents a paradigm shift in
the way that photography and dance are created, presented and consumed.
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Keywords
Celia Kathryn Walmsley, Criticism and interpretation, Dance photography, Photography, Artistic, Research Subject Categories::HUMANITIES and RELIGION::Aesthetic subjects::Art