The Fugitive Self: Authorship and Subjectivity in Contemporary Art and Experimental Documentary Meredith A. Birrell A thesis in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Art & Design Faculty of Art & Design September 2019 Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname/Family Name : Birrell Given Name/s : Meredith Anne Abbreviation for degree as give in the University calendar : PhD Faculty : Art & Design School : Art & Design The fugitive self: authorship and subjectivity in contemporary art and Thesis Title : experimental documentary Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) This thesis identifies and theoretically articulates strategies of ‘fugitive authorship’ in the work of The Otolith Group, Ursula Biemann, and Hito Steyerl. I argue that within the work of these contemporary artists, all of whom work with experimental documentary, a renegotiation of the author-self has emerged in response to new frontiers of crisis in the twenty-first century, including new crises of the human within an emergent post-human paradigm. Drawing on histories of the essay film, feminist and postcolonial counter-cinemas, and feminist Posthumanist theory, this thesis demonstrates how these artists actively revolt against the documentary’s claims to authorial authority by moving towards a radical aesthetics of fugitivity. Vacillating between presence and absence, knowledge and doubt, clarity and opacity, they become fugitive by performing a ‘flight’ from the author-self while simultaneously remaining accountable to their socio-historical location. Working with the theories of Karen Barad and Rosi Braidotti in particular, this thesis identifies a new form of authorship, fugitive authorship, at the centre of emergent forms of experimental documentary in contemporary art that meet the complexities of the contemporary condition. As a theoretical model, fugitive authorship provides a new critical language to account for recent authorial practices that continue to push against prevailing ideas of the author, the human subject, and the documentary form in contemporary art. As we stand on the threshold of unknown post-human, more-than-human, and beyond-human futures, the fugitive author challenges the most basic assumptions we hold about the self. In doing so, it projects communal futures for human and non-human subjects alike. 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Candidate’s Name Signature Date (dd/mm/yy) COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents a non-exclusive licence to archive and to make available (including to members of the public) my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known. I acknowledge that I retain all intellectual property rights which subsist in my thesis or dissertation, such as copyright and patent rights, subject to applicable law. I also retain the right to use all or part of my thesis or dissertation in future works (such as articles or books).’ ‘For any substantial portions of copyright material used in this thesis, written permission for use has been obtained, or the copyright material is removed from the final public version of the thesis.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date …………………………………………….............................. AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date …………………………………………….............................. Contents Dedication i. Acknowledgements ii. Conference Presentations iii. List of Figures iv. Introduction 1. Chapter One 20. Fugitive Authorship Chapter Two 77. Time Travels: Temporal Justice and Historical New Materialism in The Otolith Group Chapter Three 143. Authorship After the Human: Becoming Posthuman in Ursula Biemann Chapter Four 206. Becoming an Image: Authorial Materialism in Hito Steyerl Conclusion 275. Reference List 287. Appendix 321. For Ingrid. i Acknowledgements This thesis would simply not exist without the incredible support and mentorship of my supervisors. My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Veronica Tello, my primary supervisor from the beginning, whose faith in me and my work, dedication, knowledge, patience, and unfailing ability to lead me out of the darkness and find the light again, are gifts for which I will be forever in her debt. I am also deeply grateful for the support of Dr. Uros Cvoro, my joint supervisor for the past two years. Thank you for your advice, encouragement, and making me laugh at myself. Thank you to both Dr. Tello and Dr. Cvoro for the opportunity to work as a research assistant, project manager, and tutor. I would also like to thank Dr. Anna Munster, my initial co-supervisor, whose expertise and guidance laid much of the foundations of this thesis. I thank the University of New South Wales and the Graduate Research School for the opportunity to present my work at conferences both here in Australia and overseas. To my peers with whom I shared much of this journey, thank you for your friendship, you’re all amazing scholars who are already changing the world. Thank you to my students, who have made me not only a better teacher, but a better person. I thank Ursula Biemann for inviting me into her home in Zurich to be interviewed. I thank her too, for her generosity in sharing her work and ideas, which have been invaluable to this research. I am grateful to all the artists examined in this thesis, The Otolith Group, Ursula Biemann, and Hito Steyerl, for making such incisive, challenging, and moving works which have without question changed me and my view of the world. Thanks to all my friends and extended family who encouraged me in this endeavour and took an interest in my work, you will never know how much your words of support helped sustain me. It is impossible for me to express my gratitude for the love and support I have received from my immediate family: my parents, brother and brother-in-law, sisters-in-law and all of their children, and my parents-in-law. To my Mum, in particular, your unstinting support and countless hours devoted to baby-minding were indispensable and so gratefully received. It was an enormous comfort to know that my little girl was in the loving and capable hands of her devoted grandmother. Thank you to my husband, Cameron, for keeping me going, and for holding everything together in the tough times. I love you. To my little girl, Ingrid, all of this is for you. You did not exist when I began this journey, but without doubt you have helped me complete it. You are my everything. I love you, my darling. ii Conference Presentations ‘The “Fugitive Self” in Hito Steyerl’s November and Lovely Andrea,’ presented at the AAANZ Conference: ‘Image/Space/ Body,’ Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 24 – 25 November 2015. Session: Art After the Future: Hito Steyerl and the Global Digital Image. ‘Disorientation and Mutation: A Critical Posthumanist Reading of Hydra Decapita and The Radiant by The Otolith Group,’ presented at the 7th Annual New Materialism Conference: ‘Performing Situated Knowledges: Space, Time, Vulnerability,’ Warsaw, Poland, 21 – 23 September 2016. Session: New Materialism Embracing Film Studies. Accepted into: International Conference on Feminist Geographies and Intersectionality: Places, Identities, and Knowledges,’ Feminist Geographies Conference, Barcelona, 14 -16 July 2016.