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The Metaphysical Playroom: the Puppet Animations of Stephen and Timothy Quay

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The Metaphysical Playroom: the Puppet Animations of Stephen and Timothy Quay Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2012 The metaphysical playroom : the puppet animations of Stephen and Timothy Quay Buchan, Suzanne Abstract: The investigation proposes aesthetic, technological and philosophical parameters to articulate the poetics of the animated ’worlds’ of the Quay Brothers’ films. It pivots around Street of Crocodiles (1986), midpoint in their work to date. After an introduction of the Quays’ early creative development, I undertake an analysis of the Quays’ thematic and philosophical inspiration by a triumvirate of au- thors: Kafka, Walser, Schulz. This is followed by a section on Bruno Schulz’s short story ”The Street of Crocodiles” that considers the relation between Schulz’s text and the film’s visual surface, examining stylistic strategies that are invoked relative to concepts of metaphor, dream narrative and James Joyce’s literary techniques. I then develop a theoretical and aesthetic complex that illuminates functions and devices specific to the Quay Brothers’ work: architectural constructions, scale, and materials; the physical properties and animated performances of the puppets and objects; formal parameters of lighting, shot size and camera movement, lenses and montage, and central role that sound, music and noise plays in the Quay Brothers’ montage. I then turn to works made after Street of Crocodiles, centering on devel- opment of motifs and imagery that originated in the early films and how they are augmented by new ones, exemplified by In Absentia (2000). This is interwoven with the Quay Brothers’ increasing engage- ment with choreographers, opera and stage and set design and The Institute Benjamenta (1995), and I conclude with reflections on The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes (2005). Diese Untersuchung entwickelt ästhetische, technologische und philosophische Parameter vor zur Artikulierung der Poetik der animierten ’Welten’ in den Filmen der Gebrüder Quay. Die Hauptachse ist Street of Crocodiles (1986), mitten in Ihrem Opus. Nach eine Einleitung ihrer frühen kreativen Entwicklung, unternehme ich eine Analyse der thematischen und philosophischen Inspiration der Quays von einem Schriftsteller-Dreigestirn: Kafka, Walser und Schulz. Danach folgt Reflektionen über Bruno Schulz’s ”Street of Crocodiles” und die filmis- che Bildsprache, unter anderem durch Konzepte der Metapher, der Traumerzählung und der Stilistik James Joyces. Als nächstes entwickle ich einen theoretischen und ästhetischen Komplex zur Illumination spezifische Funktionen des Werks: architektonischen Konstruktionen, Grössenverhältnisse und Materie; die physische Eigenschaften und animierte Darstellung von Puppen und Objekten; formal-technische Pa- rameter Beleuchtung, Einstellungsgrösse, Kamerabewegung, Linsen und Montage; und die Zentralität von Musik, Geräusche und Ton in die Quays’ Montage. Darauf ist die Schwerpunkt die Arbeiten, die nach Street of Crocodiles entstanden sind, mit Überlegungen zur Weiterentwicklung von Motiven und bildlichen Darstellungen in diesen Filmen, mit In Absentia (2000) als Beispiel. Dies ist verflochten mit den Quay Brothers Engagement mit Buhnenbild, Oper und Choreographen, und wie diese konzeptuell übersetzt werden in The Institute Benjamenta (1995), und ich schliesse mit Betrachtungen über The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes (2005). Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-164100 Dissertation Published Version Originally published at: Buchan, Suzanne. The metaphysical playroom : the puppet animations of Stephen and Timothy Quay. 2012, University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts. 2 The Metaphysical Playroom: The Puppet Animations of Stephen and Timothy Quay Thesis presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Zurich for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Suzanne Buchan from Rünenberg BL Accepted in the fall semester 2003 on the recommendation of Frau Prof. Dr. Christine Noll Brinckmann Zurich, 2012 Table of Contents Acknowledgments 3 1. Introduction 5 Cinematic Parameters 7 Chapter Descriptions 10 2. Animated 'Worlds' 14 Through the Critics' Eye 15 The 'Special Powers' of Film 20 Animated 'Worlds' 24 Apprehension, Animism, Vitalism 32 3. Authentic Trappers in Metaphysical Playrooms 39 'Twinema' 41 Norristown to London Town 43 Keith Griffiths, Conspirateur Extraordinaire 49 Koninck Studios 52 Channel Four Artists' Documentaries 59 The 'Twist Point' 65 4. Palimpsest, Fragments, Vitalist Affinities 69 Wisps and Fragments: Cinematic Transpositions of Literature 71 Cinematic Metaphor 74 Literary Cineantics, James Joyce, Portmanteau and Nonsense 79 Vitalist Cosmogonies: Kafka, Walser and Schulz 83 Exile and Alienation 90 Bruno Schulz's "Ulica Krokodyli" 92 The 'Generatio Aequivoca' 100 5. Traversing the Esophagus 105 Labyrinthine Space 106 Spatial Collage 109 Miniature Worlds 113 Spatial Uncertainty in Street of Crocodiles 118 The Animated Architectural Uncanny 120 6. Puppets and Metaphysical Machines 130 The Dancing Demiurge 132 Matter, Insecticity, Flesh: A Typology 139 Empathy, Texture and the Grotesque 146 Matter, Automata, Portmanteau Puppets 151 7. Negotiating the Labyrinth 161 Violating Space: Montage and Disorientation 164 Epiphanies of Light 173 Lenses and Depth of Field 179 From Here to There: Frame, Shot, Camera and Transitions 182 8. The Secret Scenario: Soundscapes 191 The Conspiratorial Climate of Music 193 Music, Sound, Noise 196 Musical Dialectics 200 Mutters and Creaks 211 Trilectic Montage 219 9. The Animated Frame and Beyond 223 Rehearsals and Oneironautics 224 Opera and Artificial Perspectives 228 Atelier Koninck QBFZ: Stille Nächte and Commercial Interludes 232 The Dance Films 241 Shattered Sound and Light: The 'World' of In Absentia 245 The Phantom Museum and Recent Short Films 253 10. Animistic Architectures 257 Institute Benjamenta 258 The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes 265 New Expressionism: A Twist Point 269 10. These Things Never Happen but are Always 274 Towards a Poetics 275 The Beatification of Zero 284 Bibliography 287 Filmography, Scenography, VHS and DVD 299 Appendix: curriculum vitae 2008 2 Acknowledgements The process of writing this doctoral thesis thrived on exchange and discussion with many and diverse personalities: filmmakers, artists, students, colleagues and friends, passionate individuals from many disciplines and walks of life who gradually configured into a network of inspiration, collusive mischief and support. I proffer thanks to them here, in no particular order. A number of names are by sheer numbers missing from this list and I apologise for any I have inadvertently or otherwise left out. My deepest thanks go to Stephen and Timothy Quay, both for enriching my professional, personal, visual and aural worlds and for their selfless, constant openness to my impinging explorations of their creativity; and to Keith Griffiths, their producer, for his dedicated passion to this kind of filmmaking and for insights and information on many of the Quay Brothers' films. I am indebted to my PhD supervisor and friend Christine Noll Brinckmann for her support, encouragement and guidance throughout the research process; to my dear friend Richard Weihe, for providing me with insights into philosophy and aesthetics that have enriched my life as well, and to Fritz Senn at the Zurich James Joyce Foundation who introduced me to Joyce's literary envisioning of the world. I am most grateful to Vivian Sobchack for her encouraging discussions early on in this project of for her undying and lucid curiosity about simply everything, and for her remarkable ability to transform this into meaningful and passionate writing that has affected my thinking about cinematic experience. At the Seminar for Cinema Studies in Zurich, I benefited enormously from discussions and feedback with my students and during excellent and rigorous doctoral colloquia with many colleagues, especially Margrit Tröhler, Jan Sahli, Thomas Christen, Marianne Lewinski, Till Brockman and Vinzenz Hediger. For hospitality and a sheltered research environment I am thankful to the Green College Foundation at the University of British Columbia where I was Scholar in Residence in 1999, and to the University for the Creative Arts, UK for extended periods of research leave. I also thank my UK colleagues Anthony Harrild, Manuel Alvarado, and especially David Campany for their stimulating ideas and support. In the animation and curating communities, I am thankful for the persistence and unequalled curatorial efforts of Jayne Pilling, Otto Alder and especially Edwin Carels to ensure audiences can experience auteur animation films. During the 10 years of co-directing the Fantoche Animation Festival in Switzerland, I benefited 3 from vibrant discussions about the Quay Brothers' work with countless filmmakers, scholars and journalists that frequented the festival. Andres Janser, with whom I curated the Trickraum : Spacetricks exhibition at the Museum for Design Zurich in 2005, provided me with an unequalled opportunity to undertake serious play with notions of animated space in an exhibition format. On a personal note, gratitude is heartfelt towards Carola Fischer, whose misgivings about animation stimulated a number of ideas, to Jasmin Grego for her inestimable support as friend and listener and for opening her home to me as a writing refuge for so many years and to Jan Korvink, for encouraging me to pursue an academic path at a crucial point in time. Finally, this book is dedicated
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