The Shadow

Cubitt, Sean. 2013. The Shadow. MIRAJ The Moving Image Review & Art Journal, 2(2), pp. 187-197. ISSN 20456298 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

In both electronic scanning and film projection the image must disappear for fragments of every second. Where perspective rests on a vanishing point, projection relies on a vanishing instant, the sudden plunge into imperceptible darkness. This article traces the art history of the vanishing of the image in the history of shadow. For Plato, who wants to remove all trace of subjectivity and the doxa associated with it, shadows are evidence of the mediating role of knowledge, which reveals the temporality of truth. Platonic and positivist arguments for, respectively, the untruth or the indexical quality of photography are countered by experimental practices in film and video, which point us towards the constitutive ephemerality of mediated light and its relation with shadow.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1386/miraj.2.2.187_1

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Media, Communications and Cultural Studies

Dates:

DateEvent
2013Published

Item ID:

14175

Date Deposited:

19 Oct 2015 09:23

Last Modified:

27 Jun 2017 13:53

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/14175

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