Useful Literature

I read some literature on John Akomfrah’s work this week in ‘The Utopian Promise: John Akomfrah’s Poetics of the Archive’. I took some notes related to Akomfrah’s mode of non-linear documentary editing that are useful for my own practice.

 

·       ‘Montage allows the possibility of re-engagement, of the return of the image with renewed purpose, a different ambition’. (J. Akomfrah)

 

·       ‘The poetic is a mode of documentary… that involves the creative treatment of historical footage when – as Nichols states – manipulated rhythmically and tonally.’

 

·       ‘…when tone and rhythm take precedence over “factual knowledge or acts of theoretical persuasion.” (Nichols, 2010: 162)

 

·       The idea of internalization and resistance when it comes to identity and migration

 

·       ‘The camera cuts from an archival interview of Thatcher talking about the essential “character” of Britishness, the fear that new minority cultures threaten this character, to a fear that new minority cultures threaten this character, to a slowed down image of a black Rasta being chased by the riot police.’

è This method of drawing connections between archive footage from different time periods, or pairing audio with a, at first glance, disconnected image, in order to create new meaning, is something I want to experiment with