The disappearing work: Chantal Akerman and phenomenologies of the ephemeral

Chamarette, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0701-1514 (2013) The disappearing work: Chantal Akerman and phenomenologies of the ephemeral. Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, 17 (3). pp. 347-356. ISSN 1740-9292 doi: 10.1080/17409292.2013.790631

Abstract/Summary

In this article I argue that thresholds of attention or distraction provoke a phenomenological engagement with the ephemerality of moving image installations. Thus, patterns of spectatorial attention and distraction offer a potential methodology to examine ephemeral installations which exist for a limited duration, in particular in exhibition spaces. The article probes a range of conceptualizations of attention with relation to contemporary phenomenological film theory, and performance theory, in order to stage a reflective encounter with Chantal Akerman’s recent installation, Marcher à côté de ses lacets dans un frigidaire vide (To Walk Beside One’s Shoelaces in an Empty Fridge, 2004). It ultimately argues that engaging with a phenomenology of the ephemeral may act as a corrective balance to the narrativizing and canon-building tendencies in recent film criticism of Akerman’s work.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-pure-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/92949
Identification Number/DOI	10.1080/17409292.2013.790631
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Central Services Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Arts and Communication Design > Art
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