Cinema Redivivus: Bill Morrison and Early Cinema's Spectral Return.
This article involves an investigation into the work of contemporary moving-image artist Bill Morrison, who resuscitates nineteenth-century visual technologies by engaging with cinematic remains, reconfiguring historical footage into evocative films where the spectral past emerges. To illustrate the...
| Published in: | 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century no. 38; pp. 1 - 20 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Open Library of Humanities
2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=190773555&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 190773555 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 17551560 ATMS jtl: 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century issn: 17551560 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2025 iid: 38 pid: 15576 pub: Open Library of Humanities artinfo: ui: 190773555 10.16995/ntn.17856 ppf: 1 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 4.6MB tig: atl: Cinema Redivivus: Bill Morrison and Early Cinema's Spectral Return. aug: au: Wasserman, Tina su: Photographic film Photodegradation Documentary film production Experimental films Archival materials Morrison, Bill, 1965- Silent films Dawson (Yukon) Yukon River (Yukon & Alaska) sug: subj: Dawson (Yukon) Yukon River (Yukon & Alaska) Photographic film Photodegradation Documentary film production Experimental films Archival materials Morrison, Bill, 1965- Silent films ab: This article involves an investigation into the work of contemporary moving-image artist Bill Morrison, who resuscitates nineteenth-century visual technologies by engaging with cinematic remains, reconfiguring historical footage into evocative films where the spectral past emerges. To illustrate these issues, my investigation focuses on two films: Light is Calling (2004) and Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016). Whether it is footage found in archives, buried for decades in the frozen Canadian Yukon, or preserved in film canisters deep in the ocean's waters, Morrison's work displays the striking image of photochemical disintegration over the decades, while simultaneously unpacking the buried histories imprinted on it. At a time when cinema has already transitioned to digital technologies, and when many film theorists have announced the 'death' of historical cinema, I argue that Morrison continues to engage with cinema's photochemical legacy as it was invented in the nineteenth century. By using cinematic remains to revivify its historical materialities and conditions, Morrison, moreover, closely connects his contemporary work to many of the unique spectator and reception conditions witnessed at the birth of cinema in the late nineteenth century. Set against the faded decay of photochemical cinema, I argue, the apparition of historical cinema returns. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century is the property of Open Library of Humanities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century holder: Open Library of Humanities dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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