Untitled 1.1, 2022

Video Montage, Digital Video. 9.42mins

Original Concept: Saskia Takens-Milne and Ben Northover

Untitled 1.1 is a montage of hundreds of commercial film clips of moments when there is no narrative action and no people are present. Just the backdrop and eerie incidental sounds remain. The viewer is disorientated and disturbed by the foreboding spaces. The tone is one of anticipation and dread. 

Untitled 1.1 is art as philosophy. It is a dialectical addition to the discourse around two of Lacan’s structures of the psyche: the Symbolic and the Real*. The Real is impossible to capture in words because language destroys it.  Using the manufactured cinematic image as a metaphor for the psyche, this piece shows isolated moments that appear unaffected by the conceptual framework of the film on a quest for glimpses of the Real (within this allegory the conceptual framework functions as the Symbolic). By constructing these quasi encounters with the Real, Untitled 1.1 attempts to make the experience of ideological capture visible to the audience to enable reflection. 

Mainstream film is a powerful instrument for broadcasting and naturalising ideological norms so it is a natural choice of medium with which to manifest an escape from the Symbolic.

* According to Lacan, the Real is the natural state that we are born into - when we have a direct relationship with the things around us - which we lose when we acquire language. Language ushers us into the Symbolic, by mediating our experience through the culture(s) around us. Once we acquire language we no longer have a direct experience with eg a person, we now understand them as a woman within a matrix of meanings and prejudices manufactured by our culture and embedded in language. 

Fair Use Disclaimer

This video contains copyrighted content which I do not have authority to use. Use of these materials is covered by the UK copyright law on fair use of works  listed in Section 30A, Schedule 2 (2A) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

No copyright infringement is intended and I do not own nor claim to own any of the original footage used in the video.

Credits (In Order of Appearance)

Catch 22. 1970. [Film]. Mike Nichols. Dir. USA: Filmways/Paramount Pictures.

Nikita. 1990. [Film]. Luc Besson. Dir. France: Gaumont Film Company/Les Films Du Loup/Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica.

Alphaville. 1965. [Film]. Jean-Luc Goddard. Dir. France: Athos Films.

Adam’s Rib. 1949. [Film]. George Cukor. Dir. USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Mother. 2009. [Film]. Bong Joon-Ho. Dir. South Korea: CJ Entertainment/Barunson.

Black Narcissus. 1947. [Film]. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Dirs. UK: The Archers.

Fatal Attraction. 1987. [Film]. Adrian Lyne. Dir. USA: ​​Jaffe/Lansing Productions.

Little Miss Sunshine. 2006. [Film]. ​​Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. Dirs. USA: Big Beach Films/ Bona Fide Productions/Deep River Productions/Third Gear Productions.

Heartbreakers. 2001. [Film]. David Mirkin. Dir. USA: Davis Entertainment/Winchester Films.

Chocolat. 1988. [Film]. Claire Denis. Dir. France: Cinémanuel/MK2 Productions/Cérito Films/CarolineProductions/La Sept/TF1 Films Production

A Very Long Engagement. 2004. [Film]. ​​Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Dir. France. USA: 2003 Productions/WarnerBros. France/Tapioca Films/TF1 Films Production

8 Women. 2002. [Film]. Francois Ozon. Dir. France: Fidélité Productions/France 2 Cinéma/Mars Films.

Gloria. 1980. [Film]. John Cassavetes. Dir. USA: Columbia Pictures

9 and a Half Weeks. 1986. [Film]. Adrian Lyne. Dir. USA: Galactic Films/Jonesfilm/Producers Sales Organization/Triple Ajaxxx/Metro-Goldwyn-Maye

Burn After Reading. 2008. [Film]. Joel and Ethan Coen. Dirs. USA, UK, France: StudioCanal/Relativity Media/Working Title/Mike Zoss Productions

Chasing Liberty. 2004. [Film]. Andy Cardiff. Dir. USA, UK: Alcon Entertainment.

A Good Woman. 2004. [Film]. Mike Barker. Dir. USA: Beyond Films/Magic Hour Media/Thema Production/Meltemi Entertainment/Lighthouse Entertainment/Buskin Film/Kanzaman

Moonstruck. 1987. [Film]. Norman Jewison. Dir. USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Star Partners II Ltd.

The Commitments. 1991. [Film]. Alan Parker. Dir. Ireland, UK, USA: Beacon Pictures/The First Film Company/Dirty Hands Productions.

Sixteen Candles. 1984. [Film]. John Hughes. Dir. USA: Universal Pictures/Channel Productions

Grosse Pointe Blank. 1997. [Film]. George Armitage. Dir. USA: Hollywood Pictures/Caravan Pictures/Roger Birnbaum Productions.

Donnie Darko. 2001. [Film]. Richard Kelly. Dir. USA: Flowers Films

Barbarella. 1968. [Film]. Roger Vadim. Dir. France, Italy: Marianne Productions/Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica

27 Dresses. 2008. [Film]. Anne Fletcher. Dir. USA: Fox 2000 Pictures/Spyglass Entertainment/Dune Entertainment III, LLC.

Forces of Nature. 1999. [Film]. Bronwen Hughes. Dir. USA: Roth–Arnold Productions.

The Mirror Has Two Faces. 1996. [Film]. Barbra Streisand. Dir. USA: TriStar Pictures.