Between Site-Specificity and Landscape in Video Art Yuda Ho (RES Film and Television) Supervisor/ Daniele Rugo Brunel University London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Oct 2020 Abstract Since its invention, cinema has had a long history of experimentation and exploration of the relationship between “screen,” “moving image,” and “place.” However, it is only in the last few decades that artists influenced by the site-specific art movements of the 1960s have started to use dynamic outdoor space in substantial ways. This kind of site-specific cinema privileges a number of distinct characteristics that could redefine cinema in new ways, such as the application of the long take, a non-narrative structure and a tendency towards a direct representation of time. This practice-based research explores site-specific cinema from two aspects: on the one hand, this research investigates how site-specific cinema develops a distinctive relationship between moving image, space and spectator. On the other hand, this research adopts Deleuze’s film-philosophy to explore the essence of the image in site-specific cinema. Focusing on the development of a filmmaking methodology, this research explicitly analyses the application of static shots, long takes, and balanced composition in Ozu’s films, and applies this to site-specific cinema, thereby denoting a new model of cinematic experience. By using a reflective practice approach, this research aims to contribute original knowledge through its contextual reviews and original artworks used as case studies. 1 Table of Contents Abstract 1 Chapter 1: Introduction 7 1.1 After Cinema 7 1.2 From Pre-Cinema to Post-Cinema 13 1.3 Research Questions and Chapter Structure 18 1.4 Site-Specificity in Sculptural Practices 20 1.5 Site-Specificity in Video Practices 23 1.6 James Benning’s Landscape Films 27 1.7 Deleuze and Cinema 30 1.8 The Rhizome 32 1.9 Deterritorialisation and Reterritorialisation 34 Chapter 2: Practices in Time and Space 37 2.1 The Ontology of the Photographic Image 37 2.2 Reflective Practice Model 43 2.3 Planning 45 2.4 Choosing the location 47 2.5 Working with Images 50 2.6 Apparatus Setting 52 2.7 Acting 62 Chapter 3: From the Deleuzian to the Dynamic Landscape 73 3.1 Deleuze’s Space and Time 73 3.2 The Brain Is the Image 75 3.3 The Crystals of Time 79 3.4 Frame, Set and Assemblage 82 3.5 Pure Optical and Sound Image 85 3.6 The Art of Ozu: the Poetics of Cinema 91 3.7 Ozu’s Methodology 97 3.8 The Art of Symmetry 100 3.9 Ozu’s Exterior Shots 107 Chapter 4: Parallel Presents and Passing Landscapes 118 4.1 Section 1: Ozu’s Influence 118 4.2 Section 2: Between Cinema and Installation 132 4.3 Where is Cinema? 136 2 4.4 Section 3: Two Projects 144 4.5 The Feedback 150 Chapter 5: Conclusion 160 5.1 Space and Time in Site-Specific Video Art 160 5.2 Implications for Site-Specific Practices 167 5.3 Conclusion 171 Appendix 174 Video Works 174 Bibliography 175 Film Distribution Information 183 3 List of Diagrams Diagram 1.1: Rosalind Krauss’s model (1979). ..................................................................... 21 Diagram 1.2: Cameron Cartiere’s model (2003). .................................................................. 22 Diagram 3.1: The first great schema. ................................................................................... 80 Diagram 4.1: The structure of the film, Installation #1....................................................... 157 Diagram 4.2: The structure of the film, Installation #2....................................................... 157 4 List of Figures Figure 1.1: Pierre Huyghe, Rue Longivic (1994). .............................................................................................. 16 Figure 1.2: Pierre Huyghe, Little Story (1995). ................................................................................................. 17 Figure 1.3: Larry Gottheim, Fog Line (1970). ................................................................................................... 25 Figure 1.4: Nika Radić, 3 Windows (2007). ...................................................................................................... 26 Figure 1.5: Cristina Lucas, Touch and Go (2010). ............................................................................................. 26 Figure 1.6: James Benning, Casting a Glance (2007)........................................................................................ 29 Figure 2.1: The actual view from the room window, London, 2017. ................................................................ 53 Figure 2.2: Projection image onto a blackout cloth overlapping with the real window scene. .......................... 54 Figure 2.3: The actual view from the living room window, London, 2017. ....................................................... 54 Figure 2.4: Projection image onto a blackout cloth overlapping with the real scene. ....................................... 54 Figure 2.5: Projection image and its reflection overlapping with a lively street scene. ..................................... 55 Figure 2.6: Details of nonwoven fabric (semi-transparent). ............................................................................. 55 Figure 2.7: Installation prototype with the nonwoven fabric. .......................................................................... 56 Figure 2.8: Details of shoji paper. ................................................................................................................... 56 Figure 2.9: All the necessary equipment for prototype 1................................................................................. 58 Figure 2.10: Outdoor field testing (prototype 1). ............................................................................................ 58 Figure 2.11: Indoor installation setup (prototype 2). ....................................................................................... 60 Figure 2.12: All the necessary equipment for prototype 2. .............................................................................. 60 Figure 2.13: Outdoor field testing (prototype 2). ............................................................................................ 61 Figure 2.14: Zebra Crossing no.1, digital film, colour, sound, 8 minutes and 2 seconds. ................................... 63 Figure 2.15: Zebra Crossing no.2, digital film, colour, sound, 10 minutes and 33 seconds. ............................... 63 Figure 2.16: The Installation view (digital mockup). ........................................................................................ 65 Figure 2.17: The Installation view (digital mockup), the front view. ................................................................. 65 Figure 2.18: The installation view, 5 am, London. ........................................................................................... 66 Figure 2.19: The installation view, the front view and back view, 5 am, London. ............................................. 67 Figure 2.20: The installation view, the projection image overlapping with a passing truck. .............................. 67 Figure 2.21: S Road, digital film, colour, sound, 11 minutes and 16 seconds. ................................................... 69 Figure 2.22: Bus shelter, digital film, colour, sound, 12 minutes and 30 seconds. ............................................ 70 Figure 2.23: Blue, Metal, Snow, Sky, digital film, colour, sound, 11 minutes and 14 seconds. .......................... 72 Figure 2.24: White Forest, digital film, colour, sound, 24 minutes and 1 second. ............................................. 72 Figure 3.1: Ozu’s storyboard for An Autumn Afternoon (1963). ....................................................................... 93 Figure 3.2: Still from Equinox Flower (1958). ................................................................................................. 102 Figure 3.3: Still from An Autumn Afternoon (1962). ...................................................................................... 102 Figure 3.4: Still from Late Spring (1949). ....................................................................................................... 103 Figure 3.5: Still from Good Morning (1959). .................................................................................................. 105 Figure 3.6: Still from A City of Sadness, directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1989. .................................................. 105 5 Figure 3.7: Still from Good Morning (1959). .................................................................................................. 109 Figure 3.8: Ozu’s exterior shots. ................................................................................................................... 112 Figure 3.9: Ozu’s exterior shots. ................................................................................................................... 114 Figure 4.1: “S Road,” 2019. 10:07 pm, the installation view, Brunel University, London. ................................ 125 Figure 4.2: “Bus Shelter,” 2019. 10:16 pm, the installation view, Brunel University, London. ......................... 125 Figure 4.3: The vase shot in Late Spring, Yasujiro Ozu, 1949.......................................................................... 126 Figure 4.4: “Walking Shot #1,” (2020). Screenshots from the original footage, York Way, London. ................ 131 Figure 4.5: “Walking Shot #2,” (2020). Screenshots from the original