sharon
(sharon)
#1
Bywayofaconclusionletusconsiderthreerecentpublicationsthat
exemplifythisindifferentways.
PaoloGasparini’sMegalopolis( 2000 )isaprintequivalentofthe
multi-narrativefilmsdealingwiththecomplexityofthecontemporary
city,suchasRobertAltman’sShort Cuts( 1993 )andFernandoMeirelles’
City of God( 2002 ).Thebook’spagesarecuthorizontallyintothreesec-
tions,aphotographoneach,enablingthereadertoassembletheirown
spreadsandmaketheirownassociations.GasparinishotinLosAngeles,
MexicoandSãoPaulo,allinonestyle,lookingforsimilarmotifs.He
addstothedensitywithmultipleexposures,photoswithinphotosand
overlappingframes.Theresultisahybridcityatoncerealandimaginary.
Moreover,thespreadsareendlesslydifferentbutendlesslythesame.Like
lifeformanyoftheinhabitantsofthesecities,thebookispromisingbut
pessimistictoo,seductiveyetfulloffalsepossibilitiesandemptychoices.
Overthecourseofthreedecadesthecityhasbeenacentralthemefor
theartistandwriterVictorBurgin.Fromtheearly 1970 shehasconceived
ofhiswork,mostoftenamixtureofwriting,photographsandlatterly
video,asapracticebelonging‘somewherebetweenthegalleryandthe
book’,asheputit.Hisrelationtothebookformhasbeenconsistently
innovative,aidedbyalong-standingassociationwithhisgraphicdesigners.
InthebookVeniseBurginre-imaginesforthepagehisshortfilmof
thattitlecommissionedbythecityofMarseilles.Ittakesasitscuethe
novelD’entre les mortsbyPierreBoileauandThomasNarcejac,whichhad
beenadaptedbyAlfredHitchcockasVertigo( 1958 ).Thenovelwassetin
ParisandMarseilles,whileVertigowassetinSanFrancisco.Burgin’sfilm
andbooktakeupthestructureoftheoriginalstoryofamanlosinghis
lovertosuicide,onlytobetrappedbyhisdesiretoresurrectherinsome
wayfromhismemory.IntothisBurginfoldsameditationontherelation
betweenloveandcities,colonialandpost-colonialMarseilles,andthe
placeoftheimageinpersonalmemoryandpublichistory.Thebookisa
poeticweaveofquotations,plotfragmentsandvideograbs.Atime-code
runsalongthetopofeachpage,enablingustosensethedifference
betweenthe‘readingtime’ofthebookand‘viewingtime’oftheabsent
film.Inaddition,eachversopageincludesasquareoftheimagefrom
90 thepreviouspageandeachrectoasquarefromthepagetocome.But
