Paper short abstract:

Drawing on recent experiences in digital guerilla film making and documentary film, the paper looks at the challenges and promises 'creative experimentation' and practice-based research holds for visual anthropological work interested in challenging classical modes of representation in India.

Paper long abstract:

THEORY W/OUT WORDS?

Matti Pohjonen & Soumyadeep Paul

Recent years have seen the emergence of practice-based research as a viable alternative for classical anthropological research. This new kind of work, especially popular in research interested in film, media production and the visual arts, sees the everyday practice of working on a project not as a supplement for theoretical work but rather as an intrinsic part of the research process itself. Thus, for instance, working as a director on a documentary provides new insights into the politics of representation in ways that classical academic research cannot achieve. Theory seamlessly feeds into practice and vice versa.


Drawing on a method of 'creative experimentation' and practice-based research the two authors have been developing (Paul & Pohjonen 2011), this paper looks at a recent guerilla film-making project and experimental documentary the two worked on in India in 2010-2011. The paper traces the different ways theoretical ideas varied as the 'rhizome' (Deleuze & Guattari, 1988) or object-oriented philosophy / speculative realism (Bryant and Harman, 2011) were translated into filmic form in an effort to challenge classical ways the holy city of Varanasi has been represented in popular imaginary since the colonial times.

The end result - the film (What is) The White Matter)? shown as a part of the presentation - combines different narrative methods, aesthetic techniques and new digital technology to produce a product that aims to be both theoretically-informed yet professionally-produced. What are the difficulties in this kind of work? And what are its limitations?