the ecocidal eye:

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

PART 1: the
anthropocentric gaze

The 9 planetary boundaries recently adopted by the UN 2012

How have we managed to create such global change?

ʻThe Great Accelerationʼ (last 50 years) in “Welcome to the Anthropoceneʼ viral video (2012)


A profound crisis of
‘civilized’ culture

CULTURAL ROOTS / characteristics of anthropocentric gaze? the hero, King
Gilgameshʼs affect 4500 years ago in ancient Iraq


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


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


...that continues today in our biotech age

Nature 2000: continuing desires: cathy ﬁtzgerald


Nature has almost disappeared from our view, almost like in the movie ‘Soylent Green’ 1972


‘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


Bergerʼs highly inﬂuential book in early 70s unpacked the politics and power inherent
in visual culture that perpetuates & supports dominant ideologies

18.

18.


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


It was the ʻmanifest destinyʼ of the invading
Europeans to grow and develop this EMPTY
new land

American Progress John Gast, 1878

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. ≈


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.


such cultural works have done little to overcome our estrangement from the natural world


• 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

18
18


IDENTIFY RESOLUTION: RELATIONAL

PART 2: towards a relational gaze in cinema and my arts practice


When one starts to look at ‘Nature’ in a creative practice,
one feels like one is in a hall of mirrors


Leading ecocritical thinkers are turning back to consider uncivilised worldviews where the
word and concept of ʻnatureʼ didnʼt exist
Tim Mortonʼs ʻDark Ecologyʼ


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.


... artists should move towards
ʻan ecological sympathyʼ


... 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


I have been interested in the moments in my
ﬁlms where I stop speaking and allow space
for other non-human presences


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


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


‘Tending’ Anderson writes suggests a healthy tension, a speciﬁc application of
wisdom, of culture practices that fosters active relations


‘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”


the ecocidal eye:

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