Mobile labour beyond the film-set : an exegesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
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Date
2011
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Massey University
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Abstract
This exegesis follows a trajectory that starts with Jonathan Beller’s observation that
the contemporary spectator now ‘labours in the image’. Essentially, Beller suggests
that vision and perception of the screen image is the fundamental value-productive
labour for the modern spectator. The central argument of this exegesis is to refute
Beller’s concept of the ‘looking as labour’. I suggest that sensual, corporeal and
phenomenological perception, as embodied in a range of labour practices
surrounding the physical film-set, has the potential to offer slippages and ruptures in
the homogenising cinematic mode of production of the ‘screen image’. This is
developed through analysis of how my own, and some other artists’ practices explore
unexpected areas: marginalised and forgotten histories, new narratives, material
realities and imaginings. Therefore the narratives that unfold in the exegesis range
across film extras’ personal stories, reports of communities’ interactions with filmsets,
artists’ re-creation of classic film-sets, archival research and my own industrial
film production experience and exploration of abandoned sets. Starting with the
‘looking as labour’, the exegesis moves to a consideration of ‘labour in the film-set’
to a concept of ‘mobile labour beyond the film-set’ . Notions discussed include forms
of the underground, film noirs, the world fair, crazy house and film-set ruin. Through
discussion of my own work and that of other artists and theorists, this exegesis
illustrates the ways in which the cross-fertilisation of these concepts can lead to far
more variegated, and dynamic, uses of ‘labour’ than Beller suggests. Artist’s brought
into the discussion include Peter Brosnan, Krassimir Terziev, Sean Lynch, Goshka
Macuga, Abbas Kiarostami and Pierre Huyghé, while critics and theorists mentioned
include Susan Stewart, Michel de Certeau, Vivian Sobchack, Martin Heidegger, Paul
Virilio, David Pike and Henri Lefebvré.
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Keywords
Movie sets, Jonathan Beller, Film production