The Space of Editing: Playing with Difference in Art, Film and Writing
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The space of editing: playing with difference in art, film and writing Grant Stevens Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) (QUT) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2007 Visual Arts Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology ii Abstract This research project explores the creative and critical functions of editing in art, film and writing. The written component analyses the histories and discourses of ‘cutting and splicing’ to examine their various roles in processes of signification. The artistic practice uses more speculative and open-ended methods to explore the social ‘languages’ that inform our inter-subjective experiences. This project argues that editing is a creative methodology for making meaning, because it allows existing symbolic systems to be appropriated, revised and rewritten. By emphasising the operations of spacing, questioning and play, it also identifies editing as an essential tool for critically engaging with the potentials of art and theory. iii Keywords art; collage; creative practice; cutting; deconstruction; Derrida; difference; editing; Eisenstein; film; graft; grammatology, language; montage; play; postproduction; post-structuralism; signification; spacing; splicing; structuralism; text; trace; video; writing iv Table of contents Abstract....................................................................................................................... iii Keywords ....................................................................................................................iv Table of contents..........................................................................................................v Table of figures ...........................................................................................................vi Statement of original authorship ............................................................................... viii Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................ix Introduction: The suspicion of editing.......................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Expanding editing, and the organisation of artworks............................... 20 Chapter 2: Beyond words: writing as a process of play ............................................ 61 Chapter 3: Compelling criticism: editing the gaps of narrative, metaphor and film ... 91 Chapter 4: Choking on words: the cutting and splicing of an artistic practice ......... 121 Part I: Working with editing, language and video ................................................ 121 Part II: Recent shifts and ‘New Ideas for Cake’................................................... 155 Conclusion: The final cut: an ongoing practice ....................................................... 180 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 187 Filmography ............................................................................................................ 220 Supplementary material: Selected works DVD ....................................................... 223 v Table of figures Figure 1: Pierre Huyghe, ‘Two Minutes Out of Time’ (2000)....................................... 6 Figure 2: Pierre Huyghe, ‘One Million Kingdoms’ (2001) ............................................ 6 Figure 3: Pierre Huyghe & Philippe Parreno, ‘A Smile Without a Cat’ (2002)............. 6 Figure 4: Dziga Vertov, film still from ‘The Man with the Movie Camera’ (1929) ...... 28 Figure 5: Dziga Vertov, film still from ‘The Man with the Movie Camera’ (1929) ...... 28 Figure 6: Pablo Picasso, ‘Au Bon Marche’ (1912-1913) ........................................... 43 Figure 7: Georges Braque, ‘Still Life on the Table’ (1913) ........................................ 43 Figure 8: Marcel Duchamp, ‘Bottle Dryer’ (1914)...................................................... 43 Figure 9: John Heartfield, ‘Millions Stand Behind Me’ (1932) ................................... 45 Figure 10: Francis Picabia, ‘The Cacodylic Eye’ (1921) ........................................... 45 Figure 11: Erich Buchholz, ‘Model of Berlin Studio’ (1922)....................................... 46 Figure 12: Kurt Schwitters, ‘Merzbau’ (1923)............................................................ 46 Figure 13: Robert Rauschenberg, ‘Retroactive II’ (1964).......................................... 49 Figure 14: Joseph Kosuth, ‘One and Three Chairs’ (1965)....................................... 49 Figure 15: Ed Ruscha, ‘Twentysix Gasoline Stations’ (1963) ................................... 50 Figure 16: Andy Warhol, ‘Plane Crash’ (1963).......................................................... 50 Figure 17: Piotr Uklański, ‘Untitled (GingerAss)’ (2002)............................................ 52 Figure 18: Pierre Huyghe, ‘Streamside Day Folies’ (2004)....................................... 52 Figure 19: Candice Breitz, ‘King (A Portrait of Michael Jackson)’ (2005) ................. 56 Figure 20: Donald Judd, ‘Untitled’ (1966).................................................................. 59 Figure 21: Robert Morris, ‘Untitled (Mirrored Cubes)’ (1971).................................... 59 Figure 22: Sergei Eisenstein, film stills from ‘October’ (1927) .................................. 81 Figure 23: Jean-Luc Godard, film still from ‘A bout de soufflé’ (1960) .................... 107 Figure 24: Jean-Luc Godard, film still from ‘A bout de soufflé’ (1960) .................... 107 Figure 25: Video stills from ‘Danger Zone’ (2003)................................................... 121 Figure 26: Ed Ruscha, ‘Standard Station, Amarillo (Texas)’ (1963) ....................... 127 Figure 27: Ed Ruscha, ‘Every Building on the Sunset Strip’ (1966)........................ 127 Figure 28: Richard Prince, ‘Untitled (pens)’ (1979) ................................................. 127 Figure 29: Richard Prince, ‘Untitled (three women looking in the same direction)’ (1980)...................................................................................................................... 127 Figure 30: Video still from ‘Mr President?’ (2001)................................................... 129 Figure 31: Video still from ‘I Love NY’ (2001).......................................................... 129 Figure 32: John Baldessari, ‘What This Painting Aims To Do’ (1967) .................... 131 vi Figure 33: Douglas Huebler, ‘Variation Piece No.20’ (1971) .................................. 131 Figure 34: Martin Scorsese, film still from ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976)................................ 136 Figure 35: Martin Scorsese, film still from ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976)................................ 136 Figure 36: Video stills from ‘Your Move’ (2002) ...................................................... 136 Figure 37: Installation view of ‘Dazed and Praised’ (2004) ..................................... 139 Figure 38: Video stills from ‘Nothing's Changed’ (2004) ......................................... 143 Figure 39: Installation view of ‘Nothing's Changed’ (2004) ..................................... 143 Figure 40: Video stills from ‘Like Two Ships’ (2005) ............................................... 147 Figure 41: Installation view of ‘Like Two Ships’ (2005) ........................................... 147 Figure 42: Installation view of ‘When There's Love’ (2005) .................................... 151 Figure 43: Alexander Rodchenko, ‘Pure Colours: Red, Yellow, Blue’ (1921) ......... 157 Figure 44: Marcel Duchamp, ‘In Advance of a Broken Arm’ (1915, 1964).............. 157 Figure 45: Piotr Uklański, ‘Untitled (GingerAss)’ (2002).......................................... 165 Figure 46: Piotr Uklański, ‘Untitled (Wet floor)’ (2000) ............................................ 165 Figure 47: Piotr Uklański, ‘The Nazis’ (1998).......................................................... 165 Figure 48: Pierre Huyghe, ‘Remake’ (1994)............................................................ 166 Figure 49: Pierre Huyghe, ‘L’Expédition scintillante: A Musical (The Scintillating Expedition)’ (2002).................................................................................................. 166 Figure 50: Pierre Huyghe, ‘Atari Light’ (2000-2003)................................................ 166 Figure 51: Installation view of ‘Turtle Twilight’ (2006) ............................................. 170 Figure 52: Installation view of ‘Turtle Twilight’ (2006) ............................................. 170 Figure 53: Video still from ‘The Feeling’ (2006) ...................................................... 173 Figure 54: Video still from ‘The Feeling’ (2006) ...................................................... 173 Figure 55: Video still from ‘Bang’ (2006)................................................................. 177 Figure 56: Video still from ‘Bang’ (2006)................................................................. 177 vii Statement of original authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made. Signature: _________________ Date: _________________ viii Acknowledgements When I started this