Journal 3: Death of the Author

In this chapter, Barthes contests the prevalent idea of the author-god that continues to pervade much of western society. The idea that writing-- or other arts for that matter-- serves solely as a vessel for the author’s intentions is, according to Barthes, deeply flawed. True ‘originality’ always eludes the writer, Barthes holds, as all they can hope to create is a patchwork collage of those that came before them. “We know now that a text is not a line of words releasing a single ‘theological’ meaning… but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash.” (Barthes, 146).


I’ve done a lot of thinking recently on ideas such as these, as I often utilize elements of randomness and chance in the art I create. Additionally, I’ve always struggled when trying to come up with any kind of concrete and definite ‘meaning’ behind the work I create, so interpretations such as these, where less value is placed on the intentions of the writer/artist as compared to the work they create, are very appealing to me. 


In my final project, I hope to include elements that distance the work’s necessary relationship with the author-- utilizing chance, and forms of abstraction. The “cut-ups” we learned about earlier in the term really piqued my interest, and I’ve experimented a little with doing my own, and I’m working on finding ways to incorporate similar techniques into my project. 


I also find Barthes’ stance on ‘originality’ to be very liberating as an artist-- too often I find myself getting overly stressed, trying to create something wholly original. When I consider things from Barthes’ point of view, and accept that all creations are essentially derivative of what came before them, and of their very mediums (spoken/written language, 2D visual, 3D visual, etc.), it becomes easier to focus on the art-making itself rather than getting hung up on abstract conceptions of originality.


Project Update: 


Last weekend I shot several video clips around the Banta Bowl bridge area (it seems to be a favorite of mine for art projects). I’ve been experimenting with timing and speed, as well as the effects of music, sound, and silence on scenes. I’ve also been experimenting with altering the playback speed of sound/music.

 

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