Medium specificity between cinema and literature


Medium specificity is defined as the argument between cinema and media theatre differences. It also explores the difference between cinema and literature. This philosophy suggests that film as a medium has its property and aesthetics. This philosophy can be studied when compared to other philosophies. Medium is defined as a raw material or mode of expression used in an artistic or creative activity.” Specificity is determined as “the quality or fact of being specific in operation or effect.” Medium specificity is defined as “the unique and proper area of competence for a form of art that matches an artist’s ability.” Medium specificity requires the artist to engage with the materials chosen to use critically. Medium specificity states that all art mediums, from film to canvas to a sheet of paper that poets use to produce a poem, are grounded in the properties that make up the art form (such as the written or spoken word). The differences between video and film are video images are immediately recorded and visible, whereas film images are developed to be viewed by their audiences. Thus, video is a medium explored in several instances. Clement Greenberg helped popularize the term medium specificity, which holds the unique and proper area of competence of a form of art that corresponds with the ability of an artist to manipulate those features unique to the nature of a particular medium. So, the takeaway is the argument that different media can be identified or differentiated from one another based on their means of imitation. The media have their unique characteristics, which form how they are used. 


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Medium Specificity in Film: https://www.rampfesthudson.com/what-is-medium-specificity-in-film/


Nam June Paik is a recipient of the Guggenheim fellowship. He made a file entitled the video cave. His work is represented in many exhibits, including the Whitney Biennial, and exhibited at the MOMA museum. He once said, “The only way to survive is to really kill everything.” As an artist, he underplayed the value of his music. He created his music using audiotape reels between 1958-62. These tapes were used in his piece Homage a John Cage: Music for tape recorders. He completed this work before he became a video artist. His piece discusses the creation of music by exploring his use of abstraction and revelation. He invited the bad brains to perform with him. His filter was his music. His music which he used as a score. This was through his music, his tape recorder, and his piano. He outlined the main elements of his homage by describing three movements totaling 10 minutes. His piece proves that the sublime is inseparable from the ugly and the comical. This work is more about the philosophy of music than the use of philosophical music. His instruments were two pianos, one of which had no keys, tape recorders, tin cans with stones, a toy car, a plastic train, an egg, a pane of glass, and a bottle. He recorded his best work before he passed away. The virgin land of his electronic work became a beautiful day, which to him was like a Zen Koan. His publication FLUXUS explored the new otologic form of music. 


Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum. (30 Apr 2013). Nam June Paik: Art & Process - Stephen Vitiello. YouTube. 

Emily  Honderich  - Copyright eRose Graohics
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