Ecology of images and art machines

Abstract

The present paper takes into consideration Gilles Deleuze's theory of image conceived as an alternative to the semiotic approach to this notion where it is regarded as based on a certain representational or psychic function. Of all Deleuze's vast output of work, the author singles out the analysis of 'movement-image' expounded by the philosopher in the eponymous book Cinema, and the idea of individuation as the principle of image mechanics. Within this philosophical approach, images are viewed as a result of the impact of forces and affects which is non-specific for art as a particular cultural continuity but rather belonging to the same order as matter with its properties of duration and extension (in Bergsonian sense). The cinematographic regime, with such resources as cutting and framing at its disposal, brings forward the dynamic nature of the nascent image which emerges in the process of highlighting, or individuating, matter. The effect of an image, therefore, can best be described not by assimilating to a model or imposing an interpretation pattern, but through experiment and the process of becoming. The paper aims to develop some important elements of Deleuzian aesthetics and to suggest new solutions to the problems which arise with respect to understanding certain controversial notions in Deleuze's thinking.