forwarded message from andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk

[chris abraham]

who is this robb guy, anyway?

On Fri, 7 Feb 1997, robb monn wrote:

> Is this thread regarding the Film 'La Jette' by chance, with it's still
> photo vs. narration?  If not, it might be interesting to mention it,
> because is it centrally concerned with causal systems and whatever would be
> the alternative.
> 
> >I am reposting this as when I replied privately to Michael I did not
> >know that his original had gone to the list
> >
> >mglosup at randomc.com writes:
> >
> > [re Franz viewing Attila the Hun]
> >
> >> I love this scene. Franz must have faith of a religious quality in
> >> cause and effect.  Franz doesn't have to actually 'connect the
> >> fragments', he can assume that the connections do exist and not
> >> exert himself by engaging in observation.  Of course he could have
> >> seen a synopsis of the film before viewing it.
> >
> >You are right that Franz does not have to connect the fragments, up to
> >a point. But imagine if those fragments are just dots with no lines
> >between them. At what point does making the connections become a
> >psychological, or better perceptual - better still conceptual
> >necessity. We get so blase about teh concepts on which we have built
> >our edifice that we think they must be trivial. Whereas it is merely
> >that they are utterly familiar because of frequent and routine
> >application of the methods and techniques which give them life. Fail
> >to employ these techniques, i.e. apply the concepts, regularly enough
> >and suddenly it becomes impossible to view aspects of one's world
> >under the aspect of the concept (in case you know LudWit this is the
> >key point behind his duck-rabbit aspect - in the case of the ambiguous
> >duck-rabbit figure we cannot help but eep seeing at once rabbit then
> >next duck because we cannot stop ourselves applying the two
> >over-familiar concepts in rotation).
> >
> >Even if he had seen a synopsis how would he have known that the film
> >conformed to the synopsis? If the intervals between frames get big
> >enough then anything can be allowed to happen in the spaces.
> >Continuity at a conceptual level relies on continuity and regularities
> >at the day to day level. Franz's attempts to supplant this rule with
> >notions of cause and effect is a diversion (i.e. secular history) even
> >though, as you say, rooted in faith.
> >
> >
> >Andrew Dinn
> >- -----------
> >And though Earthliness forget you,
> >To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
> >To the rushing water speak:  I am.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> robb monn
> 
> robb at shiftparadigm.org
> 

-- 
chris abraham <chris at artswire.org> +1 202.452.7442