Michele Barker

In his influential analysis of cinema prior to 1906, Tom Gunning argued that cinema was uniquely concerned with »attractions«. It eschewed the narrative form that would take hold later and continue to dominate even in the present. Others, such as Rizzo and Cahill, have extended Gunning’s claim and considered it in relation to recent technological, media platform and stylistic developments. This paper builds on these notions of a contemporary cinema of attractions, discussing how the development of consumer level systems such »GoPro« provide opportunities for again embracing »attraction« over narrative-driven cinema. Rather than focusing on the debate between spectacle and narrative, I argue that Eisenstein’s original concept of attraction – the »aggressive« subjection of the spectator to »sensual or psychological impact« resonates with the intent of much »GoPro« content.

But, drawing on Erin Manning’s philosophy of movement and process, I move beyond these ideas of the psychologisation of subjectivity and spectatorship to consider ideas of movement as a more-than-human force propelling moving images, one not tied to representation or narrative. I argue that this movement-driven, non-narrative force can be seen emerging in some forms of experimental cinema such as the 2012 documentary »Leviathan«. I will then address more experimental installation and artistic cinematic forms through a discussion of my own multichannel and immersive practice. I will propose that new cinemas of attraction give us an immanent experience of what moves moving images. This can help us understand a direction for cinema that leaves behind representationalist forms such as »narrative«, »action« or documentary.

Dr. Michele Barker is an artist and academic working in the field of new media and experimental cinema. Her artworks explore and research embodied perception, emphasising relations across sensory modalities – the way movement inhabits vision or the way our auditory sense works in tandem with our proprioception. She engages critically with the ensemble of digital technologies, medical and scientific applications, and both cultural and popular responses to science and technology.

Barker regularly collaborates with artist and new media theorist Anna Munster and their work has been exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally, including in Vidarte, the Mexican Biennale of Video Art; The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Taipei, The Photographer’s Gallery, London; FILE Festival, Sao Paolo; Museum of Art, Seoul; and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Out of a residency at Eyebeam in New York they developed the award wining multi-channel work, »Struck«, which has been exhibited in Australia, the US, China and Taiwan. Also in collaboration with Munster she created »évasion« (2014), a responsive installation working between dance, performance and the moving image; and »HokusPokus« (2011) a multiple screen interactive artwork that uses illusionistic and performative aspects of magical tricks and early cinema to explore the cross-modality of human perception. This work was chosen to represent Australasia as part of the International Festival of Digital Art and the Cultural Olympiad in London in 2012. Barker is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Art and Design, University of New South Wales.