shadow worlds final - · pdf file5/27/2013 · keywords: brass art, installation,...

ShadowWorlds|Writer’sRooms:Freud’sHouse

MontyAdkins1,CharaLewis2,KristinMojsiewicz3,AnnekéPettican11UniversityofHuddersfield,Huddersfield,England

m.adkins@hud.ac.uk,a.pettican@hud.ac.uk2ManchesterSchoolofArtatManchesterMetropolitanUniversity,Manchester,England

c.lewis@mmu.ac.uk3EdinburghCollegeofArtatUniversityofEdinburgh,Edinburgh,Scotland

k.mojsiewicz@ed.ac.uk

Abstract.Thissubmissioncomprisesanaudio-visualinstallationcreatedbyBrassArtwithcomposerMontyAdkins and programmer Spencer Roberts. The installation comprises a looping 4-minute film and usesfootagecapturedviathreeKinectscannersofstaged‘sojourns’byBrassArtat20MaresfieldGardens,thehouseSigmundFreudoccupiedduringthelastyearofhislifeinLondon.

Keywords:BrassArt,installation,Kinect,Freud,audio-visual.

1IntroductionBrassArtareacreativecollectivecomprisingCharaLewis,KristinMojsiewicz,andAnnekéPettican.Withintheir collaborative art practice analogue and digital technologies are used as a means to disruptconventionalnarratives,andtocaptureperformances inrealand imaginedsituations.Thishas includedmatch-moving real and illusory footage of a hot air balloon flight navigated by the artists; trespassingmoorlandsandmilitarylisteningpostswithneonsignageoperatedfromatravellingsuitcase;andmerging4Dfacialscandataofthreeartiststocreateasingleinflatablesculptureofgiganticproportions.Thisplayfulexplorationandirreverentapplicationofnewandanaloguetechnologiesallowsthemtoeditandinsertthemselvesintoselectenvironments,oftenpenetratingperceivedboundariesintheprocess.AttheforefrontofBrassArt’srecentpracticeistheimpulsetooccupywell-knowncollectionsofcelebratedauthorsundertheprojecttitleShadowWorlds|Writers’Rooms.TheyhaveusedMicrosoft’sKinecton-rangescanner, incollaborationwithprogrammerSpencerRoberts, tocapture, recordandprocess theiractionsatTheBrontëParsonage,WycollerHallandTheFreudMuseum,London.

2BetweenthesubvertingandcomfortingpowersofthehouseThetropeof the ‘hauntedhouse’wasexploredrelentlessly in theGothic literatureof the19thCenturythroughtheterrorsofthesublime.Whileitwasaccepted(byBurkeetal)(Vidler1996)thatnoteverythingthatinducedterrorwasrootedinthesublime,theuncannywasseenasanespeciallysubversiveconceptbecauseitseemed,toparaphraseVidler,“attimesindistinguishablefromthesublime.”(Vidler1996)Asanaestheticcategory,theattributesof‘nonspecificity’havemadetheuncannyarichveinforexploration,asitencompassesaspectrumofmeanings,includingpolaropposites.ItisthisaffiliationwhichFreudsawasdisturbingand compelling -heextendedErnst Jentsch’sdefinitionof theuncanny (Jentsch1906) as an‘unknowing’ brought about by (intellectual) disorientation, to form his theory on the Return of theRepressed–thebringingtolightofthatwhichshouldhaveremainedhidden.The concept of the uncanny (what is canny - possessing knowledge / uncanny - beyond knowledge) isextendedbytheGermanetymologyofunheimlich(heimlich-atorofhome/unhomely-notathomein).VidlerclaimsthatthemultiplesignificationsoftheunheimlichweremostinterestingforFreud,returning,

as it did, to the scene of the domestic; the home and dynamics of the family. Furthermore, as Freudapproachedtheunheimlichthroughtheheimlichhe,‘exposedthedisturbingaffiliationbetweenthetwo’;thattheirinterchangeabilitywasperhapsthemostuncannyaspectofall.Freudcited,fromDanielSanders’German Dictionary of 1860, a 19th Century illustration of this interchangeability by social critic anddramatist,KarlFerdinandGutzkow,

TheZeck’sare“Heimlich”...“Heimlich?...Whatdoyouunderstandbyheimlich?”...“Well…theyarelikeaburiedspringoradrieduppond.Onecannotwalkoveritwithoutalwayshavingthefeelingthatthewatermightcomeupthereagain.”“Ohwecallitunheimlich,youcallitHeimlich.”(Gutzkow1910)

ItisfromthispositionthenthatBrassArtapproachtheuncannywithintheircollaborativeartpracticeandengagewiththesenseofpossiblereanimationofobjectsorsites;arevisitationofapowerthatmayseemostensibly‘dead’.Thisreanimationofsiteorobjectevokesasenseofthemnemonicandbringstotheforeaspectsofmemory,knowledge,translationand inscription.Justasmnemonicsuseavirtualretracingofrooms,sequencesandobjectstoaidrecallandsequentialnarrative,sofilmtheoristGiulianaBrunoremindsusoftheimportanceofmotionlinkingmemory,filmandthemuseum:

Placesarethesiteofamnemonicpalimpsest.Withrespecttothisrenderingoflocation,the architecture of memory reveals ties to the filmic experience of place and to theimaginativeitinerarysetupinamuseum.(Bruno2007)

GastonBachelardexhaustivelydescribedthehousingofmemoryinconfigurationsofgarrets,basementsandnurseriestobereturnedtoandminedthroughoutadulthood.Mostinterestinglyperhapshesuggestedthat:

Apsychoanalyst should, therefore, turnhis attention to this simple localizationofourmemories. I should like to give the name of topoanalysis to this auxiliary ofpsychoanalysis.Topoanalysis, thenwouldbe thesystematicpsychological studyof thesitesofourintimatelives.(Bachelard1994)

Thewriterswhosehomestheartistsvisited-whetherpartoftheliteraryorpsychoanalyticcanon-havebeenrigorouslystudiedandmined.CorneliaParker,anartistwhooftenworkswithculturallyloadedobjectsfromsuchsignificantsources,describesherapproach,

… I'm always trying to find the opposite, the banal, the everyday, to find unchartedterritory in the most visited spots. Between the monumental and the mundane is adifferentplacethatIamtryingtogettointhework,whichwhenIfindit,itbecomesakindofrevelation.(Paceetal2001)

BrassArtshareherdesiretofindandbringtolight‘thatwhichisoverlooked’:intraversingaroomtheyharnessthelasers’touchtomeasuretheirownbodiesagainstitsproportions;ingainingprivilegedaccesstoitemsoffurnitureandartefacts,theyinterrogatethem,andtheirstatus,fromanewperspective.Parker’swork,usingforensic-likemethodsorapproaches,rescuesthesubjectfromthemyth,puncturingreceivedperceptions*.Anycollectionhasrestrictionsputuponitfortheconservationoftheartefacts-theseareobviousandexplicit-andBrassArtpushtheseasfaraspossible,performingsometimesinauncontainedwaywithincircumscribed,hallowedspaces.Perhaps lesscleararetheunspokenrestrictionsaroundthemythographyofthesubjects:whoownsordirectsthose,andwhatthatmightmeanfortheemergenceofpotentialcounternarrativescreatedbytheartists.

*Forexample:CorneliaParkers’BronteanAbstractsseries(2006),andMarksmadebyFreud,Subconsciously(2000)partofherongoingAbstractsseries-forensicforaysintotheminutiaeoficonicthinkers.

2.1TheDouble

TheShadowWorlds|Writers’Roomsprojectenabledtheartiststoenterthedomesticspacestheauthorsoccupied.Asan investigationof simple,domestic spaces it creates thepossibilityof thinkingabout theeveryday, the ordinary and the familiar as the most vivid potential sites for uncanny revelation andtransformation.Cruciallytheuncannyinvitesapersonalinterestinlanguagethatattemptsdefamiliarizationor‘makingstrange’.Inre-animatingthe‘familiar’domesticspacesoftheseauthors(everyonerecogniseswhatabedroomis,orwhatastaircaseisfor)suchartisticsojournsinviteare-evaluationofthesespaces,theirparticularitiesandpeculiarities.BrassArt’sperformanceswithcapturetechnologies,createanunfixedand constantly evolving form: a direct copy of the original space - a double - but with shifting andunexpected points of view in immeasurable time periods, and the artists’ doubles the surprising andsubmergedoccupants.InFreud’sHouse:TheDouble-thesecondchapterofBrassArt’sprojectShadowWorlds|Writers’Rooms -thedouble isthesignifierofuncannyexperience,triggeringthesenseofboththefamiliarandunfamiliar.Attempting tomimiceachother’smovements andgestures in timeand in space theartistscreatedaseriesofmirror-imageperformancesthat‘refuse’toreplicatetheirdoubles;inandoutofstepinthetwinnedperformances,theatemporalpursuingthetemporal.Theloopingprojectionandsoundscapereferencetheinnercompulsiontorepeat-aconditionwherepresent,pastandfuturemerge.InherwritingonSurrealism,RosalindKraussposits:

Itisdoublingthatproducedtheformalrhythmofspacing–thetwo-stepthatbanishestheunitaryconditionofthemoment,thatcreateswithinthemomentanexperienceoffission,foritisdoublingthatelicitsthenotionthattoanoriginalhasbeenaddedacopy.(Krauss1985)

SuchtemporalinterplayanditscreativepotentiallieattheheartofexplorationinWriters’Roomsandtheuncanny.Freud,inhischapter‘TheCreativeWriterandDaydreaming’,statesthat,

… a fantasy hovers … between three periods involved in our ideation … this is thedaydreamorthefantasy,whichhasitsoriginsinpresentexperienceandtherecollectionof thepast:sothatpast,presentandfuturearestrungtogetheronthethreadofonedesirethatunitesallthree.(Freud1919)

InenteringFreud’sstudy(ahighlypersonalworldofcollectedartefactsandmemories)thereisadeepsenseofthepast,presentandfuturescolliding.Onapracticallevel,itisexperiencedateveryturn.

2.2BeyondtheWalls

There is an interestingdimension to playing ‘beyond thewalls’ of themuseumor heritage site; in thismoment,thespaceisalivetobeingre-workedandre-animated.Durationarticulatesspace;andpracticedspacebecomesplace.Asojournallowsfortemporaryoccupation,andasthepropsarebroughtintothescene,soagesture,movementordanceevolves.ThedomesticscaleofeachspaceisperfectfortheKinect(itwasdesignedtobeusedinthiscontext)andemphasiseshowtheartistscapturethesceneasitunfoldsfocussingonwhichviewpointorperspectiveitisseenfromandrevealed.Similarly,theidentitiestheartistsadoptinresponsetothesitearespecific,recurringandother.Beingbothpresentandalsoabsent,throughtheuseofdisguise,isvitaltohowtheycantranslateandgive‘form’tothespace.Aswoman,asman,asshadow,asother,thesepotentformsofembodimentarewheresubmergedanddisruptedidentitiesareformedandframed.Increatingthework,itisimportantthattheartistsusethemselves,andarephysicallypresentinthespacetheyhavecaptured.

Fig.1.BrassArt,MontyAdkins&curatorinFreud’slibraryandstudy,FreudMuseumLondonAttheFreudMuseumBrassArtextendtherangeofthecapturedimagebyexperimentingwith‘threshold’performances:inthistheyconjoindatacapturedbyseveralKinectdeviceslocatedatdifferentpointswithinascene.Thisenablesthemtomovefreelybetweenroomsandspacesintheeditingprocess-thusfullyanimatingthehouseasthelaserscapturepointsofentryorexit.AsimultaneouscollaborationwithMontyAdkinscoaxedsoundrecordingsfromthelargelysilentspaces.InthemovingimageworkFreud’sHouse:TheDoubleshadowssuggesttherehasbeenocclusionbyasolidform,therealityofapresenceattheoriginalsiteisstated(orconfirmed),yettheexperienceisofaspacefractured,permeableand transgressed.Both fleshandarchitectureareequallyde-materialisedand re-presentedasahomogenoussurfaceofshimmeringpixels.Themediumofphotography,aliteral‘writinginlight’,retains‘aninternalrelationship’betweenobjectandshadow.Throughthesamecorporealexclusionoflight,(albeitlaserinthisinstance)theaffectisequivalent.Theaudiencefacesindecisionbetweentherealandthevirtual-confrontedbytheprojectedshadowsandthosecreatedbytheirownagency-thestatusoftheshadowisabletoslipbetweenindex andiconSuchmomentsoftransformation,anditsdream-likeregister,underpinthecollaborativepracticeofBrassArtandlendsitselfparticularlywelltothecaptureprocess.Increatingasetofidentitiesparticulartoeachplace,andcapturingthemthroughthescanningprocess,theartistsareabletosubmergethem-throughdataprocessing-intotheenvironment,sothattheybecomeinscribedwithinit.InMaresfieldGardenstheirperformedidentitiesalludedtotheenigmaticcollectionsandcasestudiesthat influencedFreud’sworldandwritings.Theunnaturalandinexplicablebringingtolightofsomething(whichsurelyoughttoremainhidden)hasparticular resonance in Brass Art’s use of the Kinect, in that it allows walls to appear permanently

permeable,‘revealing’thereverseofthesceneasthescannerrotates.Theinexplicablelightiscomparabletothescanner-eyeoftheKinectlaserrollingoverandskimmingsurfacesuntilitrendersthescene(unseenby the artists at that point) in shimmering pixels. This supposed ‘revelation’ of the literal fabric of thebuildingcanbeseenasanungrounding–thepassagefromhometounhomely.This isalsorevealed inThomasDeQuincey’sdevelopmentofthespatialuncanny;hishypnagogic†visionsofPiranesi(DeQuincey1821)‡entombedwithinstructuresofhisownmakinginanimaginaryvoid,doomedtoforeverrepeatthesame futilemovements through spaces, staircase, corridors. Vidler seeshim, “… caught in a vertigoenabîmeofhisownmaking,foreverclimbingtheunfinishedstairsinthelabyrinthofcarceralspaces.”(Vidler1992)

Fig.2.AudienceexperiencinginstallationFreud’sHouse:TheDoubleMirror(2015)International3Gallery

3.Silenceandshadows

InFreud’sHouse:TheDoublethesoundiscomposedofresonantnoisesrecordedonsiteandinthestudio,andbroughttogetherintoasoniccomposition.BrassArtremainedopentotheunconsciousinfluencesthatdetermined their actions, behaviour and movements whilst Adkins recorded fleeting and involuntaryaspectsof theseperformances,andcoaxedsoundsoutof long-dormantobjects.The installationof thisworkisimmersiveinscalebutintimateintheuseofpersonalizedsound.GivenprivilegedaccessinFreud’shouseatMaresfieldGardens,AdkinsrecordedFreud’schair,unlockingthedrawsofFreud’sdesk,aswellastheelaboratecurtainmechanismanddoorofthestudy.Inaddition,soundsoftheartistsmovingaround

†hypnagogic:thetransitionalstagefromconsciousnessintosleep.‡In Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821), De Quincey based this on a conflation of his owndreamscapeswithGiambattistaPiranesi’sCarceri-ImaginaryPrisons(1740-),astheyweredescribedtoDeQuincey,probablybythepoetSamuelTaylorColeridge.

thehouse,particularlythestaircasewasalsocaptured.Thesematerialswererecordedusingadummyheadtocapturebinauralrecordings.Theseconveyasenseofspatialmovementwithinthesoundswhenreplayedover headphones during the installation for the audience. Theonly non-binaural recordingwas that ofFreud’schairwhichwascapturedusingacontactmicrophone.Thisprovidedasenseofuncannyintimacytothesoundasthelistenerisatfirstnotawareofwhatthesoundactuallyisduetotheproximityoftherecording.ThesesoundswereprocessedinReaktorandMaxoftenusingthespectralcontentofthesoundstocreateresonantfiltersthatwerethenusedtoprocessothermaterialsfromwithinthepoolcollectedattheMuseum.Havingprocessed thesesoundmaterials tocreateabankof sonic resources,Adkins thenworkedwithBrassArtinthestudiotocapturesomethingoftheintimacyofthedomesticspace.Withanodtounconsciousconnections,therefrainfromTakethisWaltzbyLeonardCohen(afterthepoetryofLorca)repeatsasashortloophalf-waythroughthevideo.

MuchthoughtwasgiventothenatureofthesoundworldgivenFreud’sdislikeofmusic.AnovertlymusicaltreatmentofthesoundscouldhaveactedasaJungiansonicmirrorpresentingthevieweroftheinstallationwithwhatwas‘lacking’intheFreudhouse.Inthefinalversionoftheinstallationamoreunderstatedsoundworldwaschosen.ThisenhancessonicelementsheardwithinthehouseandcapturedduringBrassArt’sperformances.ThetreatmentofthesoundthereforemirrorsBrassArt’sperformativeinterventionsinthehouseitself.StuartFederwritesthat:

Freud himself never wrote specifically about music and his writings contain fewreferencesevenofametaphoricalnature.Indeed,heappearstohavebeenleastsensitivetomusicthananyofthearts,ananomalyinlatenineteenthcenturyVienna.

Freudhimselfwrotethat:

Iamnoconnoisseurinart,butsimplyalayman…Nevertheless,worksofartdoexerciseapowerfuleffectonme,especiallythoseofliteratureandsculpture,lessoftenofpainting…Ispendalongtimebeforethemtryingtoapprehendtheminmyownway,i.e.toexplaintomyselfwhattheireffectisdueto.WhereverIcannotdothis,asforinstancewithmusic,Iamalmostincapableofobtaininganypleasure.Somerationalistic,orperhapsanalytic,turnofmindinmerebelsagainstbeingmovedbyathingwithoutknowingwhyIamthusaffectedandwhatitisthataffectsme.(Freud1914)

OnepossiblereasonisthatFreud,whoisknowntohavesufferedfromvariousneuroticsymptomsincludingobsessions, compulsivity, death anxiety, migraines and psychogenic fainting spells, may have alsomanifestedmelophobia-fearofmusic.IthasevenbeensuggestedthatFreudsufferedfromanextremelyrareformofseizuredisorderknownasmusicogenicepilepsy.Insuchcases,music,eitherwhileplayedorheard,triggersanunderlyingneurologicaldysfunction,resultinginmildtosevereseizures,andhence,anunderstandablypowerfulfearandavoidanceofcertaintypesofmusic.)

Aswithotherspecificphobias…melophobiainvolvesanxietyreactionstosomespecificstimulus.InFreud'scase,thisauditorytriggeringstimulusseemstohavebeenmusicofalmostanysort.WhenexposedtomusicwhileoutonthetowninViennaorMunich,hisautomaticresponsewasreportedlytoimmediatelyplacehishandsoverhisears toblockout thesound.Whatcouldhavecausedsuchanegativereaction?WasFreud'shearing,sofinelytunedbydecadesofpsychoanalyticlistening,acutelyhypersensitive?Orcouldhisproblemhavebeenmoredeeplyrooted?ItisevidentthatFreuddevaluedthefeminineinhispsychologyas in himself, and overvalued the more ‘masculine’ qualities of thinking, reasoning, logic, analysis,intellectualismandscientificreductionism.DidFreudfearhisown‘feminineside’?

Musicisallaboutfeeling,emotion,passion,theirrational,theheart,thesoul,andiscloselyassociatedwiththe"feminine"modeofbeingand,inmen,whatC.G.Jungcalledthe‘anima’.Freuddeniedthis"irrational"side of himself, his more mystical, spiritual leanings, his religiosity, and feared and rejected Jung's

fascinationwithsuchesotericand‘occult’matters, fightingtenaciouslytoexcludethemfromhispurelyrationalscienceofpsychoanalysis.But,asJungrightlypointedout,thatwhichwetrytoexcludefromourconsciouspersonalityinevitablybecomespartofthe‘shadow’.Heretheideaofaninvisible‘double’comesinthroughtheabsenceofmusicintheFreudhousehold.

Freud’s House: The Double with its Kinect video and binaural sound world, presents another set ofdoublingsandmirrorings–acentralseamrupturesthescreen,andfoldstheoriginalbackonitselftocreateadouble.Totheoriginalhasbeenaddedacopy;ahauntedtwin.

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AllimagescourtesyofBrassArtandtheInternational3Gallery,Manchester