Janelas de si: quando o íntimo se abre ao mundo

Abstract

The research explores, within the theoretical and practical scope of visual poetics, ways in which creations of self-writing articulate the personal universe with collective matters, thereby achieving a level of alterity. Throughout the research, the fleeting nature of memory and how it appears in the creation of narratives by manipulating intimate archives is considered. The main focus concerns Julia Baumfeld's research with her family's intimate VHS tape archive, filmed during her childhood in the 1980s, in dialog with the film Diary (1973-1983), by filmmaker David Perlov. A reflection is presented on the director's gaze through his windows, aspects of his filming, editing and voice-over narration, focusing on his relationship with the house and its social context. Along with works by the author, such as the film Todas as casas menos a minha and the book Meio Dilúvio Meio Suspiro, as well as works by other artists, the house theme is investigated as a space of intimacy, a shelter for memory, a place where foundational aspects of identity are formed and where the subject mediates with the world. These aspects are dealt with based on theoretical references from psychoanalysis, such as Sigmund Freud's concept of the Uncanny; and philosophical thoughts such as Gaston Bachelard's and Maurice Blanchot's, as well as texts written in the field of visual arts by Ilana Feldman, Bárbara Lissa Campos, among others. Finally, two works by Julia Baumfeld are presented as practical developments of the research: Entre Cantos e Lamentos, which relates personal and collective issues with photographs and writings made during the author's incursion into a territory of autobiographical, historical and geopolitical significance, between Israel, Palestine and Egypt; and Era, which presents a panorama of the author's production with VHS archive material, exploring historical and material aspects of this particular medium. The path of this last work, and its production in various formats, is analyzed together with a reflection on how editing methods using archive images act in the re-signification of personal and collective memory.