1. the ecocidal eye:
beyond the anthropocentric to a
relational gaze in cinema
we understand and relate to the world by
the cultural works we create
cathy fitzgerald, nz/ireland
Sunday 17 June 2012 1

2. PART 1: the
anthropocentric gaze
The 9 planetary boundaries recently adopted by the UN 2012
How have we managed to create such global change?
Sunday 17 June 2012 2

3. ʻThe Great Accelerationʼ (last 50 years) in “Welcome to the Anthropoceneʼ viral video (2012)
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4. A profound crisis of
‘civilized’ culture
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5. CULTURAL ROOTS / characteristics of anthropocentric gaze? the hero, King
Gilgameshʼs affect 4500 years ago in ancient Iraq
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6. The idea of the ʻGreat Chain
of Beingʼ, was and continues
to be an incredible powerful
and in this example, a visual
metaphor of divinely inspired
hierarchy, giving man
dominion over all he
surveyed
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7. Joseph Wright of Derby:
Experiment on a bird with a gas pump
Ironically while the enlightenment saw great improvements for humanity, for
the natural world it was the dawn of new dark age
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8. ...that continues today in our biotech age
Nature 2000: continuing desires: cathy fitzgerald
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9. Nature has almost disappeared from our view, almost like in the movie ‘Soylent Green’ 1972
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10. ‘probably no substantial dimension of film history that is so widely admired by a public audience
and so frequently utilised in academic contexts has been so thoroughly ignored by film critics,
historians and theorists as the nature (wildlife) film’, film theorist, Scott MacDonald 2006
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11. Bergerʼs highly influential book in early 70s unpacked the politics and power inherent
in visual culture that perpetuates & supports dominant ideologies
18.
18.
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12. in european art Berger drew our attention to the fact that women were often portrayed in paintings as ʻthe surveyedʼ, as property,
for male pleasure and prestige, that there is a power relationship in how men survey women, represent them and how men treat (exploit) women.
‘the surveyed, as property; there is a power relationship in how
women are surveyed, represented and how men treat (exploit)
women’ - the male gaze
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13. It was the ʻmanifest destinyʼ of the invading
Europeans to grow and develop this EMPTY
new land
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14. American Progress John Gast, 1878
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15. in recent ecocritical analysis of visual imagery the term ʻecopornographyʼ
would appear to both be useful and bring attention to the politics of
contemporary nature/indigenous representations. ≈
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16. in very recent ecocritical analysis of visual imagery the term ʻecopornographyʼ
would appear to both be useful and attract attention to the politics of contemporary nature/indigenous representations.
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17. such cultural works have done little to overcome our estrangement from the natural world
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18. • Scott MacDonald who coined the word ʻecocinemaʼ believes
• experimental cinema has potential in
ʻretraining perceptionʼ....allowing an
examination of the conventions of media-
spectatorship (and production) that
largely ignores the earthʼ
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19. IDENTIFY RESOLUTION: RELATIONAL
PART 2: towards a relational gaze in cinema and my arts practice
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20. When one starts to look at ‘Nature’ in a creative practice,
one feels like one is in a hall of mirrors
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21. Sunday 17 June 2012 21

22. Leading ecocritical thinkers are turning back to consider uncivilised worldviews where the
word and concept of ʻnatureʼ didnʼt exist
Tim Mortonʼs ʻDark Ecologyʼ
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23. Jensen reminds us over and over that indigenous people from many parts of the world
never, ever see the world as a metaphor, the way it has become in the west.
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24. ... artists should move towards
ʻan ecological sympathyʼ
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25. ... in ʻlawyer-speakʼ, Polly Higgins suggests for peace and for the survial of all
species that ʻthat we must urgently extend our duty of care to all lifeʼ
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26. I have been interested in the moments in my
films where I stop speaking and allow space
for other non-human presences
Sunday 17 June 2012 26

27. see 40 yr+ residency in this forest as a
continuing dialogue - my relational films
becoming an audiovisual diary that I
share with other humans online.
:-)
n followers
...15 millio
rtfilm.com
ecoa
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28. looking/listening with my camera and mic is
certainly making me much more aware of the
vast complexity of the dynamics of the living
communities & elements - my
neighbours that I need to relate to
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29. ‘Tending’ Anderson writes suggests a healthy tension, a specific application of
wisdom, of culture practices that fosters active relations
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30. ‘the future has an ancient heart’
A tiny forest in-the-making, in rural ireland, may have something to teach us about
one most important living communities on the planet on which so
many of us depend, as well as teaching us a thing or two about the wisdom of
employing more kincentric perspectives in our cultural activities”
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