Papers by Karel Doing
Faire pousser les images, 2023
Fabric of Photography, 2021
A short essay about the plant based origins of photographic developer and the resurgence of this ... more A short essay about the plant based origins of photographic developer and the resurgence of this practice in contemporary experimental photography and film.
Moving Image Artists, 2020
This article looks at representations of landscape in literature, painting and film investigating... more This article looks at representations of landscape in literature, painting and film investigating the role of sound, time and material. The word 'landscape' itself refers to a manmade and objectified understanding of our natural surroundings. Within this short exploration, I am aiming to look at representations of 'land' that relinquish agency to more-than-human forces or voices. This includes an exposé of my own film The Mulch Spider's Dream, placing it within a broader context of moving image work by international artists.
Animation an interdisciplinary journal, 2020
This article proposes the phytogram, an image made by using the internal chemistry of plants in c... more This article proposes the phytogram, an image made by using the internal chemistry of plants in conjunction with photographic emulsion. First, a theoretical framework is set out, drawing inspiration from structural/materialist film theory, biosemiotics and perspectivism. The notion of plant sensations/perceptions is questioned, developing the real possibility of human–plant communication. Subsequently, a summary of the materials and methods involved in making phytograms is included in order to show how an inter-dependency of technological and natural elements can lead to evocative results and spontaneous animation. Instead of bringing inert matter to life, the image moves by itself. This practice can bring people together, sharing knowledge about their environment while enjoying the cohesion of a wider community and history of people and plants. Making such an extended community visible is significant with regard to a heightened awareness of the natural environment. Instead of preaching ecological propriety and austere behaviour, phytography offers a positive and fulfilling engagement with our living environment.
JAWS, 2017
Structural/materialist film and expanded cinema, as practiced within the United Kingdom, found th... more Structural/materialist film and expanded cinema, as practiced within the United Kingdom, found their origins within the 'London Filmmakers' Co-op'. This article argues that structural/materialist practice has evolved and while some of the original preoccupations leading towards this type of work remain, others have changed significantly. The focus of this article is on expanded cinema work, as within this domain, this shift can be seen most clearly. Four contemporary expanded cinema works are described and discussed, demonstrating and revealing the underlying ideological concerns. In his groundbreaking publication Structural Film Anthology (1976), Peter Gidal established the idea that structural/materialist films are aiming to be non-illu-sionist and anti-narrative. Moreover, Gidal connects this non-illusionist stance to a political orientation aiming at the dissolution of hierarchical relationships. Gidal speaks of 'the mediation of a repressive ideological structure', which he recognizes in any type of narrative cinema, and calls for a true form of dialec-tics in cinema. An analogy can be made to the Marxist concept of dialectical materialism, a line of thought that was popular with artists and filmmakers at the time. Many seminal expanded cinema works have clear relationships with Gidal's theory, for example: Castle Two (1968) by Malcolm Le Grice, with its deconstruction of the industrial-military complex while simultaneously deconstructing the film's projection by using repetition, a-synchronicity
Description of the film Djoeka (1932), followed by a description of the remake Saamaka (2010).
Unconscious Archives transverses noise core and vision spectacle bringing together expanded cinem... more Unconscious Archives transverses noise core and vision spectacle bringing together expanded cinema and sonic propositions from London and afar.
Thesis Chapters by Karel Doing
Thesis, 2017
Posthumanism is a contested term, seen by some as leading towards a merging of human bodies and t... more Posthumanism is a contested term, seen by some as leading towards a merging of human bodies and technology and by others, more critically, as a renewal of the ethical debate regarding human exceptionalism. Through a study of this critical approach and its potential relation to expanded cinema, a set of propositions is formulated. New knowledge emerges through the application of these propositions towards the expression of critical posthumanism.
By looking at formal, conceptual and methodological underpinnings, existing tendencies in expanded cinema are analysed and reviewed. Firstly, aided by Timothy Morton's 'ambient poetics', environmental orientations in artist film and expanded cinema are investigated. Secondly, conceptual ideas 'beyond the human' in this field are discussed. Finally, the environmental footprint of moving image production is considered. Central to this investigation is the desire to change prevailing narratives regarding nature and environment. Instead of regarding environment as a subject outside the cultural domain, environmental immanence and shared consciousness are regarded as central cultural values within a productive posthuman debate.
This theoretical approach is set in motion through a practice-based project in which organic processes are applied to generate images on discarded and outdated 35mm film. By using plants, mud and salt in conjunction with alternative photochemistry, images are 'grown' on motion picture film. Moreover, digital images are gathered using a camera extension that allows a point of view beyond the human. Background and foreground are reversed, in order to reveal the prominence of natural elements in an urban setting. These images are used in a performative or spatial context that places the viewer within the work.
By bringing together theory and practice a conclusion emerges, opening up further possibilities to develop and apply the newly found knowledge, not only in expanded cinema but also to other fields.
Books by Karel Doing
Club Solo, 2018
32 page catalogue with essays by Steven Ball (artist, musician, researcher) and Diana Franssen (c... more 32 page catalogue with essays by Steven Ball (artist, musician, researcher) and Diana Franssen (curator van Abbe Museum).
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Papers by Karel Doing
Thesis Chapters by Karel Doing
By looking at formal, conceptual and methodological underpinnings, existing tendencies in expanded cinema are analysed and reviewed. Firstly, aided by Timothy Morton's 'ambient poetics', environmental orientations in artist film and expanded cinema are investigated. Secondly, conceptual ideas 'beyond the human' in this field are discussed. Finally, the environmental footprint of moving image production is considered. Central to this investigation is the desire to change prevailing narratives regarding nature and environment. Instead of regarding environment as a subject outside the cultural domain, environmental immanence and shared consciousness are regarded as central cultural values within a productive posthuman debate.
This theoretical approach is set in motion through a practice-based project in which organic processes are applied to generate images on discarded and outdated 35mm film. By using plants, mud and salt in conjunction with alternative photochemistry, images are 'grown' on motion picture film. Moreover, digital images are gathered using a camera extension that allows a point of view beyond the human. Background and foreground are reversed, in order to reveal the prominence of natural elements in an urban setting. These images are used in a performative or spatial context that places the viewer within the work.
By bringing together theory and practice a conclusion emerges, opening up further possibilities to develop and apply the newly found knowledge, not only in expanded cinema but also to other fields.
Books by Karel Doing