A discussion of the 1966 film Black Girl and Jun'ichiro Tanizaki's book In Praise of Shadows, ascertaining from them insights into research and applicable ideas to my own research.
Black Girl (1966)
- Soviet Montage theory applied in cinema – the chase sequence at the end of the film was the most powerful.
- Shock was achieved through potent contrast, the mourning child with the mask, the rich white man running away with his money, and thirdly the hopeful music reflecting cultural pride and joy, despite imposed over such a solemn subject.
- Potential application in own practice, highlighting importance of contrast for critical reflection, placing seemingly contrasting images, sounds or artefacts together incites shock, critique and better facilitate a haunting experience.
- ‘Sound artists’ have attempted to incorporate sounds onto objects with speaker systems etc. i.e. Rolf Julius’ Sonorous objects (2006), however, I see potential in applying directional speaker technology to help facilitate this interaction without the aesthetic of a speaker system interfering with the message of the work as the sound would seemingly originate from the objects themselves.
- The above point isn’t to say that the aesthetic of a speaker system is always bad however, as sometimes it can be an important part of the work and can be emphasized to great effect i.e.: Janet Cardiff’s Forty Part Motet, where I see a critique of the limited binaural sound systems we accept as the limit of sound experience. Instead, a more granular (Xenakis) approach to sound is presented where each individual contribution to the symphony is presented as an individual speaker in a circle which can be walked around and visited individually in its exhibition.
- The use of specific sound-creating devices can also be an important part of contexusalising the work within a certain time period.
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In Praise of Shadows – Junichiro Tanizaki (Ed.2001)
‘Even the greatest masterpiece will lose its worth… if it fails to blend with the alcove.’
[FOREWORD - Charles Moore, UCLA]
‘Darkness illuminates for us a culture very different from our own.’
This quote reflects on darkness as a vehicle of introspection. When one is sensorily aware but not looking outside of oneself, they are forced to look inside of oneself both physically and metaphorically.
The idea of introducing darkness to the gallery space, be that physically or encouraging an audience to close their eyes contrasts to the White Cube’s sterilisation of shadows from the gallery climate.
[MAIN TEXT – Tanizaki]
- Pg.10-11, white cube space is comparable to the clean standards of the western bathroom.
- Despite glazing the architecture of that room in a sparkling, shiny white gloss on every surface, eliminating all shadows and dirt, it is still held as being dirty and improper as a subject of conversation.
- Despite the hyper-focus on sterilisation it still is seen as unclean. – A forced coating of white only raises the question of what is underneath that is so shameful to be hidden. And if the answer to that question is just the normal building materials that we live our daily lives in then it will incite feelings of shame, alienation and unworthiness. This enforced shame encouraged by the unspoken ideals of the institution has an association with feelings of obligatory silence in religious sites.
‘The Cleanliness of what can be seen only calls up the more clearly thoughts of what cannot be seen.’
Associating cleanliness with dishonesty or untrustworthiness. Also incites feelings of alienation, forces us to feel innately unclean as we are not able to be shined or glow in the same perfect white that the tile walls do. In a way, because we are not perfectly matte white, we feel out of place in such a white room.
- Pg.17 - Purist utilisation of materials. Western people focus on the utility, constructing paper that ‘turns away the light’ to perform the task of paper really well. Whereas western paper ‘seems to take it (light) in, embracing its atmospheric qualities as important cultural nuance.
This brings up the nuance of materiality as well. Paper is a common material which holds a lot of value in our contemporary culture. The stark white printer paper we value in the west will contrast greatly to the softer and more textured pieces of paper valued by an eastern country. This preference of worldly affect, such as light, richness and texture are not valued or utilised in our culture as much.
- Pg. 18-19 - Erradication of Effect. Similarly, effect is seen as unclean and dirty in western culure, while it is seen as deep, meaningful and human to embrace the effect we have on the world. Example given is the tarnish of silverware, which we wash and polish away, whereas they attach importance and pride to it. Another example is our preference of shiny transparent gems such as ruby and diamond compared to their sanctification of Jade. Jade whose cloudiness can be seen as either depth or impurity.
- Pg. 20-21 - Corrosive Nature. I believe this attitude towards effect is reflected by an attitude towards the corrosive nature of human oils and acids eroding the structures around us passively. One need only think of the metal religious statues whose feet or whose dogs noses have become melted from all the pilgrims hands who stroke them out of reverence etc. While the appearance of its affect seems to be making it 'shinier', it is through the effect of destruction, removing the artistic details from the work. The effect of making it more 'golden' is a great metaphor for how human interaction is not just physically corrosive, but also adds meaning and cultural value to artworks.
- Pg. 22 – 23 - Spatial appreciation + anti- Omni-directionalisms, ‘And I realiszed then that only in dim half-light is the true beauty of Japanese Lacquerware revealed.’ Appreciation of space is witnessed through dimming or making directional light, embracing shadow.
Perhaps this is how we can activate active listening in the same way, witnessing sound directionally might enable us to better appreciate its sonic properties.
The Architects of the times before must have considered how their structures would appear when lit by the dancing flame of candlelight. This reminds me of old cave paintings also utilised this consideration to make the first animations.
Below is a tracing of such animations, the frames of which would be painted onto a wall and as the fire would flicker, each would be illuminated and concealed in the textures of the wall.
- Pg. 24 – 25, Appreciation in low-light, Appreciation of precious materials heightened in lowlight, i.e. ‘
'Gold is not something to be seen in brilliant light’. Also on page 36 – ‘Modern man, in his well-lit house, knows nothing of the beauty of Gold.’
Something even of such western value, cannot be appreciated in an ‘ideal’ western setting. Raises the idea that the brilliant white light of the white cube aesthetic might not be the ideal lighting for the experience of artworks. Tanizaki later writes that Natural light is fragile, warm and gentle as oppose to the brilliant and all encompassing light of the gallery space perhaps.
- Pg, 26 – Sound Transcendency, uses sound experience to describe a higher level of experience, describing a more culturally- spiritual event as ‘a kind of silent music’.
Begins to draw relativity to noise sound and the effect of silence.
- Pg. 31- Shallow Ornamentalism,
‘Even the greatest masterpiece will lose its worth… if it fails to blend with the alcove.’
From an architectural standpoint, he writes that artworks, lose their value when displaced. If an artworks stands out to starkly from the space that surrounds it, it will feel out of place in a jarring way. In fairness perhaps this is not as significant in an environment built to make the artworks stand out, however the idea of homeliness is certainly not intended, and the consequence of this is that it loses some experiential value. Or rather, that by changing the way in which it is contextualised in a space, value can be added to the work.
This creates a curatorial challenge. Whether artworks in a white cube gallery are but ornaments filling empty walls or whether they provide depth to the experience of a display.
However, because of sounds’ unique qualities of proximity and translocation, it feels more unnatural to be situated in the ‘quiet’ enclosure of an Art Gallery.
- Contemplation vs time: ‘I need only pause before it and I forget the passage of time’, ergo contemplation is outside of time? – Does this make it difficult to contemplate sound as it is inherently temporal? or must this be combatted by a time of reflection or repetition.
- Pg. 39 – Flesh, The Relational + bodily aspect of an installation as enhanced by the light that illuminates it. Perhaps in a similar way to paper.
The idea of Lighting in architecture as the brushstroke or grain through which the painting of the experience of life is revealed. Brilliant light places information>Experience.
External associations from these texts
- Clothes as symbols of self-worth and pride, association with the mask as a mode of covering oneself with an image.
Relates to idea of the art curation as a clothed aesthetic or a masking aesthetic.
A masking aesthetic is one which supplants a space with another, whereas a clothed aesthetic is one which embraces cultural pride.
- The French people took meaning away from the mask, where the boy used it as a means of cultural identity and enjoyment, where the girl used it to engage with her family and community, the French people displayed it on their wall and removed the cultural importance from it.
Idea of displacement reflects to the non space of the white cube format. perhaps artworks too lose their cultural importance when placed within such an institution.
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