Trick of the light
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Date
2004
DOI
Open Access Location
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Publisher
Massey University
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Abstract
Trick of the Light is a video installation essay that relates the story of the incubus in the form of a multiple screen and sound installation. Research into the topic of the incubus as it has been represented in art and film, both historical and contemporary, reveals that in the main these works have been from the male perspective. Trick of the Light endeavours to put forward a viewpoint of the incubus experience with regard to female sexuality and subjectivity. In 'The Haunting', I will relate the connection between the incubus and the monstrous-feminine, concentrating first on three key historical paintings: The Nightmare (Henri Fuseli, 1781), Danaë (Rembrandt, 1636), Danaë (Gustav Klimt, 1907). I will follow an analysis of these three paintings with an examination of two cinematic works that pertain to the incubus: Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968), The Entity (Sidney J. Furie, 1985). These works will be surveyed in the context of the monstrous-feminine. 'Crotch' will look at woman artists who have sought to counter negative attitudes towards women with regard to sexuality. The performance art of woman working in the 1960/70s – Valie Export, Hannah Wilke, Carolee Schneemann – will be examined in relation to their highlighting of the female sexual part. I will follow with a comparison of contemporary woman artists working in this subject area: Tracey Emin and Zoe Leonard. A number of woman feature filmmakers who have also addressed women's sexuality will be studied in 'Touch'. In today's era of post-Mulveyism, in the hands of the woman director the gaze is female. While directors such as Jane Campion have eroticized sex on screen, others such as Catherine Breillat have maintained a natural aesthetic not dissimilar to pornography. Here I also introduce Laura U. Mark's notion of 'haptic cinema' and relate it to my own concept of film-ecriture feminine. 'Body Cuts' will foreground the recent phenomena of film and video moving into the gallery space, and the resultant changed relationship of the viewer with such works. Peter Greenaway's idea of the audience performing the editing will be examined here. I look at the work of Eija-Liisa Ahtila as an example of an artist/filmmaker working in both the gallery and the cinema. Artist Pipilotti Rist's video installation work Sip My Ocean will be looked at in relation to film-ecriture feminine. I will also use her work to introduce a premise for the spatiality of eroticism and the relationship of woman's sexuality and architectural space. 'A Bedtime Story' tracks Trick of the Light from its genesis to its resolution. I explain the process of creating the work, and talk about the separate pieces – Incubus Drawing, These Lips, Condensation, Spirit Photography, Sink Scene, Skeptic/Spiritualist- in relation to the depiction of women's sexuality in art, film-ecriture feminine, sexuality in space, and the video installation essay. [From Introduction]
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Keywords
Incubi, Video art, Sex in art, Women in art, Demonology in art