WEEK 3 – The Avant Garde

In the second week’s session, Nigel introduced us to experimental animation, describing it as an avant-garde domain of artistic exploration with a rich history rooted in creativity and innovation. Before the era of modern technology, animators pioneered groundbreaking techniques, pushing beyond the conventional boundaries of animation.

He also explained the two main types of experimental animation: formative abstraction and conceptual abstraction. Formative abstraction involves altering visual fundamentals such as color, space, and form, coupled with exploring the dynamics of movement, time, rhythm, and sound as integral themes in the work. The artist’s engagement is primarily investigative and may lack a predetermined outcome, but it must be grounded in the intellectual pursuit of applying a theory or initial objective.

On the other hand, conceptual abstraction can be understood as the abstraction and juxtaposition of storytelling. This entails selecting specific aspects relevant to a particular purpose through a filtering process.

He also conveyed the importance of examining experimental works, highlighting the boundless possibilities for evolving visual and film language propelled by technological advancements. This ongoing progression serves as a driving force behind independent and innovative endeavours. Additionally, he emphasized that personal vision, particularly in the realm of independent film and animation, remains pivotal for the medium’s development.

Activity – Choose a short film you would consider fits the definition of experimental. It could be from a formative or conceptual perspective, outlined in the lecture.

“Outer space” (1999) by the Austrian director Peter Tscherkassky. this short film is an incredibly violent film operation, tending towards total fragmentation of the mise-en-scène, profoundly desecrating the cinematic medium itself.

Categorisation:

This short film falls within the horror genre and unfolds against the backdrop of a typical American house from the last century. The narrative revolves around a singular character, Carla Moran, who experiences acts of violence perpetrated by an invisible entity. The film’s mood and tone are unmistakably unsettling and brutal. Notably, the abuse endured by Carla serves as a voyeuristic portrayal of violence, manifesting in dual directions: one directed towards the spectator, disrupting their gaze, and the other towards the cinematic image.

Form and Function:

Tscherkassky’s choice conceals a precise authorial intent that goes hand in hand with his formal research. Outer Space thematises from its opening moments the need to subvert what is recognised to fill the screen with unexpected and new perceptual stimuli. Peter Tscherkassky shows us Carla entering her home but it is evident that ‘something is wrong’. The cinematic image is presented in its altered frame, broken up by a series of external interferences that change its appearance.

Process:

The Austrian director, Peter Tscherkassky, implements a veritable reassembly of the horror film Entity (Sidney J. Furie, 1981), moving between the dynamics of found footage and working directly on the film material, reassembling and altering the film’s images to create a product that is, in his own way, entirely original. The outer space intended in the title is in this sense the space that lies beyond the confines of the film image, a space that, thanks to Tscherkassky’s direct intervention, ends up interacting with it, distorting and penetrating its frame. Tscherkassky does not want to engage in simple exercises in style and mere decomposition and recomposition, but actually creates something new out of pre-existing elements. Together with the dissolution of the film as story, Tscherkassky shows the dissolution of the film as object. The altered, scratched and ruined film becomes progressively manifest in the course of the short film, enacting a transference of the feeling of panic felt by the protagonist towards the spectator.

Formal Elements:

Within the realm of “outer space,” the formal elements assume a pivotal role. The composition strategically positions the character within unsettling or claustrophobic environments, thereby amplifying the tension and anxiety inherent in the depicted situations. The audio dynamics, encompassing sound effects and voice acting, play a substantial role in intensifying the eerie atmosphere and the disconcerting backdrop.