Digitally Reconstructing a Celluloid Age

As digital video rapidly claims functions previously assigned to celluloid film(ex. movie projection, motion picture filming) the debate rages on as to whether digital has fundamentally changed the medium or is merely a step in a progression of technological innovation that occurred since film’s beginnings. Will the institution of “film” outlast the celluloid material that has defined it for the past century? Is the institution of film defined more by cultural construct than the technology that underpins it?

As critics engage one another, the digital image has also worked to disguise itself as analogue technology(ex. Instagram or digital restoration of classic films.) In these instances, digital technology is utilized not to pioneer a new aesthetic but to comfort a culture attached to the celluloid film image.

I will curate an exhibition of artist who use both image types-digital and celluloid film-to address these issues. I will highlight works of Michael Haneke, Jean-Luc Godard and others who use the digital image to confront the celluloid and vice versa in order to understand questions surrounding the cultural construct of film.

Michael Haneke- Lumiere and Company

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