Alphaville Videoteca
Archivo audiovisual de cine clásico, independiente, experimental y de culto

Casting a Glance

EE.UU.| Documental / Ensayo| 2007|80 minutos
Título original: Casting a Glance
Dirección: James Benning
Idioma: No hablada Subtítulos: No necesita
Formato: DVD-R
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1124078

Benning begins working on casting a glance (2007) before completing the train film RR (2007). He concerns himself with a place he has repeatedly visited and filmed since North on Evers (1991): the Spiral Jetty by landartist Robert Smithson who died in 1973. This portrait by Benning of the famous earthwork consists of 78 one-minute shots filmed with a static camera at various times of the day and year. He again adheres to a rigid scheme: Each of the 16 sequences consists of four to seven shots separated by black leader. They are marked with dates, thereby providing a timeline. The title of the film and ensuing dedication, in memory of Robert Smithson, is followed by an image of the surface of the lake accompanied by the sound of lapping water. Water and sky seem to merge, the horizon line can barely be distinguished. A title indicates the year the Spiral Jetty was built: April 30, 1970. In this first shot the jetty appears in its entireity, the shoreline runs parallel to the bottom of the frame while the jetty coils at its center. Symmetry and complete visibility establish a perfect view of the landscape. Subsequent perspectives oscillate permanently between this concept of perfection, beauty and its deconstruction.

The timeline establishes the history of the Spiral Jetty like a chronological flashback in a fiction film. Benning has researched the data meticulously and uses diagrams of the water levels in the past thirty years to narrate this story of shifting visibility. This larger historical narratve is connected to the micro-story of the perennial examination of the site and artwork during visits Benning made from 2005 to 2007: the last insert reads May 15, 2007. The geological and climatic changes in the water level are conceptually reflected in the seasonal and daily cycles of the jetty during visits to the location. These constant changes are visualised in various shots of the jetty including close-ups of salt crystals and panoramic shots of the shoreline. The inserts posit geographical markers, establishing snapshots of the site as extracted over time.

Compared to previous films such as 13 Lakes or Ten Skies, the views of the jetty oscillate between stasis and high drama due to their shortness. They literally glance at the flow of time. By quoting Robert Smithson, a great artist can make art simply by casting a glance, Benning also refers to his philosophy beyond Spiral Jetty. Smithson conceived of history as a non-linear space in which different layers of time are interwoven. Landscape is a testimony, manifesting sedimentary layers of historic events, that include both geological and man-made aspects. The spiral form serves as a metaphorical visualisation of precisely this non-linearity and interconnectedness.

– extract from Landscapes, History and Romantic Allusions by Claudia Slanar (essay from James Benning, p.176-178)