Between Site-Specificity and Landscape in Video Art

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.