Last Tuesday we finished watching Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola. I had already seen the movie (I saw it in theaters.) It was interesting to watch the movie again. I am definitely one of those people who can watch movies over and over again because I always miss something. What I missed this time I actually didn’t notice right away but someone else in the class had written about it on their blog. In the movie when people say “I love you” there is never a response from the other person (the person that is being loved.) We have been talking about places and non-places and Lost in Translation has some great examples of non-places but what about the missing dialog? Another one of my classmates had responded to the “I love you” phrase and said that maybe instead of non-places the phrase is a “non-word.” I find this interesting because I think that this actually is a “non-word” or rather a non-place that isn’t an actual place.
Normally when someone says “I love you” there is a response of “I love you too.” Maybe the “non-word” has no response because, like a non-place, people are just passing by, doing their own thing. A person feels that maybe they don’t have an identity, there is no substantial history. Yes there is history, but maybe the other person doesn’t feel it or maybe they say it out of habit. I’m not sure exactly what this “non-word” means but I’m interested to find out.
We had also discussed how in the movie there are scenes with no dialog and that maybe it meant something. I’m not sure if it meant something but I do know that in a few of Sofia Coppola’s movies she has those same scenes. I just recently saw Marie Antoinette and the movie had very similar scenes. Someone is just standing there with emotion, they don’t say anything, there is no music and then the movie goes to the next scene. Maybe it means something or maybe it is just Sofia Coppola’s style or signature mark.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Hand-overcast
Last week we read Non-Places: From Places to Non-Places by Marc Auge’. The reading describes what a non-place is and how it is actually related to a place. To understand how this relationship works we first need to define a place and a non-pace.
Auge’ defines a place as “relational, historical and concerned with identity.” These places are towns or village centers and lively urban neighborhoods. We feel close and comfortable to our neighbors and history, it’s what we search for in a place. He defines a non-place as “a space that cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity,” also “non-place designates two complementary but distinct realities: space formed in relation to certain ends (transport, transit, commerce, leisure), and the relations that individuals have with these spaces.” Non-places then are airports, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and highways. In these non-places one has a clearer sense if identity, singularity. One does just what they want to do and doesn’t have concerns for other people in the non-place. When one is in a place there is a sense of community, it is what makes the place a place. However, when one is in a non-place movement is overpowering tradition.
Since non-places and places are so different, how then are they related to each other? They are related by the fact that whenever you have a non-place there is always some aspect of a place and vice versa. As Auge’ states “[a place] is formed by individual identities, through complicities of language, local references, the unformulated rules of living know-how; non-place creates the shared identity of passengers, costumers or Sunday drivers.” For example, in an airport everyone is going in their own direction, their own destination but they have shared identities because they all have a destination. Some people’s destinations might be the same (the same gate, airplane or baggage claim), while others is just a destination somewhere (a gate, restaurant, starbucks, ticket counter, etc.) Everyone has a personal identity, but they are all shared in some way. Auge’ also says that “certain places exist only through the words that evoke them, in this sense they are non-places, or rather, imaginary places: banal utopias, clichés.” For example, the signs that lead one to rest stops create the illusion of a place, but in fact it is a non-place because you have all of these people going in their own direction. Yes they are all stopping at the same place to do the same thing, but the only reason this happens is because of the sign that states that the “place” is a rest stop
Auge’ defines a place as “relational, historical and concerned with identity.” These places are towns or village centers and lively urban neighborhoods. We feel close and comfortable to our neighbors and history, it’s what we search for in a place. He defines a non-place as “a space that cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity,” also “non-place designates two complementary but distinct realities: space formed in relation to certain ends (transport, transit, commerce, leisure), and the relations that individuals have with these spaces.” Non-places then are airports, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and highways. In these non-places one has a clearer sense if identity, singularity. One does just what they want to do and doesn’t have concerns for other people in the non-place. When one is in a place there is a sense of community, it is what makes the place a place. However, when one is in a non-place movement is overpowering tradition.
Since non-places and places are so different, how then are they related to each other? They are related by the fact that whenever you have a non-place there is always some aspect of a place and vice versa. As Auge’ states “[a place] is formed by individual identities, through complicities of language, local references, the unformulated rules of living know-how; non-place creates the shared identity of passengers, costumers or Sunday drivers.” For example, in an airport everyone is going in their own direction, their own destination but they have shared identities because they all have a destination. Some people’s destinations might be the same (the same gate, airplane or baggage claim), while others is just a destination somewhere (a gate, restaurant, starbucks, ticket counter, etc.) Everyone has a personal identity, but they are all shared in some way. Auge’ also says that “certain places exist only through the words that evoke them, in this sense they are non-places, or rather, imaginary places: banal utopias, clichés.” For example, the signs that lead one to rest stops create the illusion of a place, but in fact it is a non-place because you have all of these people going in their own direction. Yes they are all stopping at the same place to do the same thing, but the only reason this happens is because of the sign that states that the “place” is a rest stop
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Specialty Finish
Since I was in an airport for two hours on Tuesday I decided to write about the airport for my non-place. What I observed was while in the waiting area (at the gate) people were reading a book or magazine. Some people were doing homework, which makes me consider them students. People were talking to one another, have it be with people they know and are traveling with, people who they just met and are getting to know (making small talk) or people talking on the phone. Some who were talking on the phone were actually holding the phone to their ear, while others had the ear piece in where you couldn’t tell if they were talking to themselves or talking on the phone. There were also people working on their computers, either sitting by an outlet or using the battery life of the computer.
The people that were not sitting at the gate were constantly walking, sometimes they would stop to grab their phone or make sure they didn’t drop anything. Everyone looked rushed, in a hurry. Some people were running while others were speed walking and still others were meandering. The meandering people were normally with small children. There were also people boarding planes and getting off planes on their way, in a hurry, to baggage claim. Also, some were buying food or magazines or books or just browsing. The airport was interesting because in the reading it said that most of the time there is always a place in a non-place. I don’t know if I necessarily found the place in my non-place but I did realize that although everyone is going in their own direction and doing their own thing everyone has a destination. Everyone is similar in the fact that we are all going somewhere; no matter how we arrive to our destination we all have a destination.
The people that were not sitting at the gate were constantly walking, sometimes they would stop to grab their phone or make sure they didn’t drop anything. Everyone looked rushed, in a hurry. Some people were running while others were speed walking and still others were meandering. The meandering people were normally with small children. There were also people boarding planes and getting off planes on their way, in a hurry, to baggage claim. Also, some were buying food or magazines or books or just browsing. The airport was interesting because in the reading it said that most of the time there is always a place in a non-place. I don’t know if I necessarily found the place in my non-place but I did realize that although everyone is going in their own direction and doing their own thing everyone has a destination. Everyone is similar in the fact that we are all going somewhere; no matter how we arrive to our destination we all have a destination.
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