Lecture 5 / Cities & film

6 / 11 / 13

OUGD501 / DESIGN CONTEXT
CITIES & FILM
LECTURE 5

In modernism the city starts to feature as an investigation in art.


Georg Simmel (1850-1918)
German sociologist - His essay was part of the Dredsen exhibition. this exhibition was a celebration of the city. However Simmel started to look at how the city influenced the people with in it rather than how the people reflect on the city.

He looks at how an individual may resist the city as back then it was quite overwhelming regarding the six and technology with in the city and how it may swallow you up.

There is a great sense of venerability with in Simmels work. Reflective of the image above, you can see there are no safety precautions i place for the workers building the iconic building of a city.


Louise Sullivan
The Garenty building. Made from red coloured building material. The phrase 'Form follows function originated from this architect and stated the products should be useful and not just decorative.

With in the building the 'form follows function aspect comnes through the inside concerning the layout and use of space with in it. The decorative exterior follows the arts and crafts movement of the time.

Sky scrapers seemed to represent the rising up of power considering the stature of the buildings and reflected on folk working in the city and how they strived for successs.


Paul Strand and Charles Scheeler - Manhatta (1921) 
This shows the scale of man power that is need to to run the industrial power of the city. The intrmingleling of people traveling to the city to there designated point of work.

Charles Seeler
Known for his celebratio of industry in Detroit (1927). His investigation were based around production lines through Fordism and Americanism. Human bodies are used to get maximum productivity with the minimal amount of individual work.
Mass production is a big aspect of his essays also and how the systems work.

Charlie Chaplin - Modern times (1936)
Shows the workings of the production line and how the factory works on a mass. the film is a comedy based creation were he joins the production line but get many things wrong with in the production line. He was accused of being a communist through this film and was followed by MI5.

Stock Market crash (1929)
People in a food que causes a juxtaposition through the advert that is displayed in the background and how this contradicts what the American people are actually going though.

Man with Movie Camera (1929)
Recording of snapshots that explore the use of this media  and the experimentation. It has a photographic approach and shows the impact of this hard time in this period.

Flaneur - Is what conducts the feel of this film. The word flaneur means to stroll or saunter.
They walk around the city and take the surroundings in. his is not part of the city due to his class and standing in society and he observes the city and the workers with in it.

Charles Baudelair
Shows a couple of Gentleman that are part of a social scene how ever the artist is watching them with out being a part of the scene.

Walter Benjimin
Tried to organise the lifestyle and investigates the architecture to which a Flanuer would be present with in. These areast are seen as undisturbed and secure.

Susan Sontang - Photographer as Flanuer 
She states that the photographer is the flanure within society. While remanning removed from the situation the photographer wonders the streets in search of abjects to observe and take images of.

Daido Moriyama - Shinjuku district of Tokyo (1970’s) 
We see this repeat of a motif of a grainy experience of the city. He seems to be stubleing through the city regarding the composition of his images. this ties in with the harder part of the city and how the lower classes live. it may be a response to Americanism with in Tokyo and the realism of it.

Flaneuse?
This has been part of an investigation to whether it would exist.
Females would not be particularly part of this activity as it was Men that were the more present sex with in the city going out to work. 

Susan Buck-Morss
See suggested through her writing that often there is a suggestion that the only women present on the street are prostitutes of bag ladies.

Arbus / Hopper 
Automat (1927) / Woman at counter Smoking (1962)
Women is surrounded by blackness which gives and uncomfortable sense that there is a story attached to this moment like a scene from a story were we do to know the back ground. there may be something to reflect on with in this image however we are not told what this is.

Sophie Calle (1980)
A photographer that construct stories through her images and writes along with these images and a Diary like entry. She investigates the idea of a Flanuse in its opposite form.

Another project she highers are secret detective to follow her and record her movements as she has with others. Hos observations of her were then present next to her investigation of other. She trys to appear as though she is leading him a round.

Venice
Seen as a kind of Laberinth were you fee as though you can get lost even though you can't. Calle uses this as a backdrop due to this reason however keeps the Diary story open.

Don't Look now
About a couple that travel to venivce for a break after loosing there child. they are haunted by a figure that keeps appearing through out the city and this gives the feel in gof this Maze and the sociological effect this could have.

Cindy Sherman
Film noir Striotype that concentrates of the female side. The woman seems dwarfed by the city and gives the feel of an overwhelming sense.

Shots taken from the locations that are un Identifiable.
The shots of the WTC don’t look like the WTC unless you knew the towers well and could recognise the windows in the background. 

Weegee / Arthur Felig 
Signiture style is to report on situations with in the city. He ws nicked named Weegee as he always seemed to be at the accident before ther authorities. he developed his films in the back of the car and used a two way radio to follow the accidents with in the city.

His work was developed into a film that follows a police murder investigation. This was created into a tradition that many films and video games started to follow.

Cities of the future/past- Fritz Lang Metropolis (1929)

La Noire (2011)
You play the crime investigator to try and solve the case. there is a sophisticated theme to the game as there are many aspects that couse the player to think on what they see.

Lorca di Cocia - Heads (2001)
 Investigates the individual and there relation to the crowd they are a part of.
he hides light on the pavement which highlights individuals and picking them pout for the photographs, they are unaware of this which gives a sense of Drama cretad as it shows people deep in thought they seem removed form the crowd. There is a detachment created by the lighting and created the idea of loneliness in the city.

This man felt that he had been breached by the taking and showing of this picture. The law gave allowance to this and made it possible for people take take and have photographs of others.

Walker Evens (1938)
People are directly staring into the lens however the camera are hidden. It gives a sense of awareness of each other even though with in the environment they are alone and separate.

Ed Soja
He presents a reflection on the postmodern city and the growth this show internally and externally. Refers to ideas that have been previously investigated on how building can construct our behaviour.

Postmodern City in photography:
Joel Meyerowitz
Broadway and West 46th Street NY 1976
There is a change in street photography through out this time. Colour images are very different form the black and white ones used in the passed. We are not told were to look and the images are very busy giving an overwhelming sense through a lot of information. We do not know what the photograph is a bout and what is being shown.

This image shows the same detachment in society in the city were i show people distancing themselves from a man collapsed rarther than doing the usual thing of helping.

9/11 Citizen journalism: the end of the flaneur?    The recording of ordinary people in an extrodinary situation gives a sense of being one with the city. The destruction of the documentary image gives reference to the 'American Dream' has fallen and events have become beyond description.

Thomas Ruff - j.peg NYo2 (2004)
This image is purposely pixalated in an acknologment that documentary photography is not enough to descried the event. Shows a degrading of the image its self.

Surveillance city
“Since the attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in 2001 and the ensuing ‘war on terrorism’ there has been an enormous ramping up of investment in machine reading technologies. If the nineteenth century saw the automation of picture making , in the 21st century we now seek machines to look at pictures on our behalf.” (Wells: 09: 339)