Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Pierre Huyghe & Blow Up


Composition in the recreation of an event.


Pierre Huyghe, 'Remake' 1995

http://hitchcock.umwblogs.org/2014/04/19/pierre-huyghes-remake/

The artist I was struggling to remember 
was / is Pierre Huyghe 
whose work crosses many boundaries.
Part of his practice has been in the recreation of famous films 
using amateur actors (volunteers, neighbours or friends) 
in recreating films like Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' 


Pierre Huyghe is a French artist. As the title implies, Remake is a remake of Rear Window. Unlike most remakes, Remake was not intended to in any way improve upon the original, and was screened at exhibitions rather than theaters. The film was a minimalist, low-budget shot-by-shot reconstruction of Rear Window, shot in a Paris suburb over two weekends. Amateur actors were instructed to mimic the behavior of those in Rear Window. It was Huyghe’s intention to merge cinema and contemporary art and compare them. 

https://sites.google.com/a/blowupthenandnow.com/blowup-then-now/

BLOW UP

The above links take you to the blog dedicated to this important and now cult film from the 1960s which includes every aspect of what defined 'the swinging 60s'.  The film was made in England by an Italian director (Antonioni) where the style and compositions of each shot made many people revise their visions of London as a bombed out city recovering from the ravages of the second world war. Antonioni's vision and references to photography throughout the film where the main character, played by the late David Hemmings, is a succesful photographer who slips from social documentary photography (Don McCullin's photographs) to fashion (David Bailey).  He is represented as the new ruling class of his times as he drives a coupe Rolls Royce yet still empathises with student protestors.

The reproductions of the locations where the film was shot are definitely of interest as they show how the notion of representation through identically mirroring a classic composition remains fascinating through film.

BLOW UP - LOCATIONS


02. Brixton Road, South London


©1966 (Unknown)

1. The area as seen in the film Alfie (1966).









©1966 (Unknown)
2. And on the Reelstreets website.





  




©1967 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Ltd.
3a. Blowup: Note the mansard-roofed tower 
(upper-middle-left) and the domed tower (upper-middle-right).






©2009 Paul Canty
3c. The domed tower at the junction of Ferndale Road and Stockwell Avenue.


The above are attempts to locate the specific composition used in the film 
and more interestingly whether Antonioni had seen ALFIE, which he probably had and which had probably inspired him to film in London and seek out similar or the same locations to work from. 

There are better examples on the blog of other locations.  I selected the one above as I lived near it and also it shows how none of the images are exactly the same despite their attempts at trying to get the same location.  

This could be done by going to the Battye library archives online or at the Alexander Library and then looking to see if you can trace whee historical images of Perth were taken from and then attempting to reshoot them!






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