Tony Cairns

Art and Film. Two Figures (1): Silhouettes. The ancient tradition of making a silhouette has a paradoxical effect: it unifies and divides. Its outline generates a tension between the active (black) and passive (white) components of an image.  Illustration 1. Illustration 1 shows a common example: an optical illusion. Two facial profiles exist in perfect symmetry, providing they are seen as the positive 'figure'. When viewed as a negative 'ground' the edges of a vase emerge. Each form is dependent upon a mental configuration, or 'gestalt', in which foreground and background are integrated as a coherent depiction. The foregrounded object, however, is thrown into relief - isolating it (i.e. we see the faces but we don't register the vase, and vice-versa). This shifting quality, where one part of the pattern must recede, has interesting implications for art and film; especially when, as in the following examples, the representation of two hu...

Cézanne, Cubism and Giacometti (2): Figures. Illustration 1:  'Self-Portrait', c. 1880, Paul Cézanne; National Gallery, London. Cézanne's portraits are exceptional for their sense of detachment and impersonality. One might say they attempt to erase the ego of each subject. In 'Self Portrait', c. 1880 (Illustration 1), the head and shoulder are represented as spherical forms, with reiterations of mini-hemispheres: a domed forehead, eye-socket and nose. ' ... to   treat   nature   through   the cylinder , the   sphere , the   cone ... ' - Cézanne . Directional brushstrokes describe rounded surfaces as planes, producing a faceted, mask-like appearance, reinforced by the glassy right eye. This blocks the viewer's inclination to make inferences about psychology or mood. I would argue that the painter has reduced character to the level of form; or that form has become character. Illustration 2: 'Portrait of Ambroise Vollard'...

'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère:' painting, 1882; Edouard Manet. 'Paris, Texas:' film, 1984; Wim Wenders (director), Robby Müller (cinematographer) and Nastassja Kinski (actress). Illustration 1, 'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère:'  A barmaid stands before a mirror, which reveals the view that she sees (including a man at the counter). Illustration 2 and 3, 'Paris, Texas:'  A female figure is shown from behind, accompanied by a male at a bar. She glances over her shoulder at someone she thought had approached (her husband, who has been missing for four years), but recognizes no one. A woman stares out at, but appears not to see, us. The bar, functioning as a barrier and a framing device, establishes a tension: between the actual space depicted, and an implied space outside of the picture-frame. The mirror becomes a further window, a 'world-within-a-world.' As observers, we move towards the woman, and, in 'A Bar at ...