Cultural Emergence of Affective Images: Montage of Indifferent Faces and Still Movements in Media Arts

This study is an attempt to overlap the characteristics of the affective image that appeared at the turn of the century around 1900 with the composition of film art. In particular, the focus was on the expressionless face and still movements as shared characteristics between the affective image and the elements of montage. While the existing film studies have often compared film mainly with literature and occasionally with theater among adjacent arts, this study focuses more on body-centered arts, such as dance and sculpture, which deal with senses of rhythm and formative gestures. Along the line, I try to suggest how montage is a new way of perception rather than thought, which, in turn, is to reconsider the physical properties of excessive images that are easily overlooked in the analysis of cinematic structure of meaning. Furthermore, introducing the sense of touch is an attempt to expand and understand the composition and experience of film meaning, differentiated from the mainstream discourses centering on the visuality and transparency. Tactile acceptance now attracts attention as a synaesthetic element that can be discussed along with visuality. Such discussion may explain various arts of alternative perception of today that are experienced in a distracted way through dispersed media and platforms. This study can be one starting point to explore in earnest the interface between the film/media art and other arts that use the body as a means of expression.