The Esthetics of Disappearance

Japan, 1986

Artwork

This work, which takes its title from Paul Virilio’s publication of the same name, explores notions of the cinematic in relation to recent global history, with particular focus on the role of the media in conveying information and events into the home via the medium of the television. Virilio’s thesis upon cinema and temporal experience proposed that ‘with the cinematic accelerator…the measure of the world becomes that of the vector of movement, of the means of locomotion that desynchronize time’. Notions of heightened speed and the distortion of perception are conveyed visually in the work by the rapidity of images and their intense colouration.
Notes by Rachel Kent, reprinted courtesy of the author and d/Lux Media Arts.

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How to watch

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Previously on display

22 April 2019

ACMI Viewing Booths

Credits

creator

Peter Callas

Duration

00:06:05:00

Production places
Japan
Production dates
1986

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

B2001502

Audience classification

Mediatheque - all ages (ACMI classified)

Subject category

Digital Art

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Object Types

Artwork

Materials

Single channel moving image, colour and audio

Holdings

MOV file H264; ACMI Digital Access Copy - presentation

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/116710--the-esthetics-of-disappearance/ |title=The Esthetics of Disappearance |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=20 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}