Manhattan Art Review Blog Revisits 2016 Notes on Cinema, Reality, and YouTube Aesthetics
The Manhattan Art Review blog published notes from a 2016 talk originally delivered in a shipping container in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. The text explores distinctions between reality and fiction in cinema, arguing that documentation creates its own cinematic object separate from the original. Post-World War II art films by directors like Michelangelo Antonioni, Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, and Jean-Luc Godard aimed to deconstruct cinematic conventions. The notes reference Oscar Wilde's idea that life imitates art and Jacques Lacan's concept of love as fiction. Specific artworks analyzed include Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson's 1971 film 'Swamp,' Damo Yang's 2015 video 'Yun Mirror Exercises,' and B Lane's 2009 'Thunder storm in Hong Kong.' The author suggests contemporary platforms like YouTube and Instagram allow for new aesthetic engagements with mundane reality, expanding perceptions through what they term a 'Deleuzian deterritorialization.' The blog post connects these ideas to the author's earlier TMAR Blog #12 about Holt and Smithson's work.
Key facts
- The blog post shares notes from a 2016 talk given in Hayes Valley, San Francisco.
- The talk was delivered in a shipping container located in a community garden.
- The notes explore the relationship between reality and fiction in cinema.
- Post-World War II art filmmakers mentioned include Michelangelo Antonioni, Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, and Jean-Luc Godard.
- Specific artworks discussed are Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson's 'Swamp' (1971), Damo Yang's 'Yun Mirror Exercises' (2015), and B Lane's 'Thunder storm in Hong Kong' (2009).
- The author references philosophical ideas from Oscar Wilde and Jacques Lacan.
- Contemporary platforms like YouTube and Instagram are presented as enabling new aesthetic engagements with reality.
- The author connects these ideas to Gilles Deleuze's concept of deterritorialization.
Entities
Artists
- Nancy Holt
- Robert Smithson
- Damo Yang
- B Lane
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Andrei Tarkovsky
- Ingmar Bergman
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Oscar Wilde
- Jacques Lacan
- Gilles Deleuze
- Paul Klee
- David Lynch
- Franz Kafka
- Robert Bresson
Institutions
- Manhattan Art Review
- Substack
- Patreon
Locations
- Hayes Valley
- San Francisco
- United States
- Hong Kong
- Taiwan
- Switzerland