The relocation of cinema

Abstract

In October 2011, the British artist Tacita Dean presented her work Film at the Tate Modern in London.2 Dean’s installation is a f ilm short projected in a continuous loop onto a large screen in a dark space furnished with seats for visitors. The written explication at the entrance to the room draws attention to the presence of all these elements: ‘35mm colour and black & white portrait format anamorphic f ilm with hand tinted sequences, mute, continuous loop, 11 minutes. Large front projection; projection booth; free standing screen; loop system; seating.’ In her article in the Guardian, Charlotte Higgins described Film as ‘pay[ing] homage to a dying medium’.3 In addition, Film is undoubtedly an act in defense of f ilm stock – that same f ilm stock which Kodak announced (on 22 June 2009) it would cease to manufacture after 74 years of production, due to a steep decline in sales. Beyond the preservation of a medium-support, Film seems to also invoke the preservation of a medium-device: in the Tate we f ind a projector, a reflective screen, a darkroom, a bench on which to sit – all things which are becoming increasingly rare in the age of digital images. In essence, Dean attempts to restore all the essential elements of the cinema, those which characterise its technical foundation. Paradoxically, she sets these elements before us as components of an artistic installation; she gathers and reunites them for the purposes of a work intended for a gallery or museum. It is no accident then that visitors to Turbine Hall do not hold the same expectations or display the same behavior as they would if they found themselves at the British Film Institute Southbank (which is not far from the Tate) to see a EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDIA STUDIES