Ontology in collage

Paolozzi's Wittgenstein and film

Brook Pearson

pp. 103-121

in: Ontologia del cinema, Rivista di estetica 46, 2011.

Abstract

This article examines work by the artist Eduardo Paolozzi related to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, arguing that Paolozzi’s print series As Is When, executed in 1964-65, together with work from nearly three decades later (Manuscript from Cassino), can be seen as a comprehensive examination of Wittgenstein’s earlier and later philosophy. Further, this article argues that Paolozzi’s take on Wittgenstein forms a new aesthetic ontology of “film”, embedding its reading of Wittgenstein in a reified Platonic cave, whose escaped philosopher finds himself basking only in the light of the artificial sun of the flickering cinema light.

Cited authors

Plato

Wittgenstein Ludwig

Paolozzi Eduardo