The movement-image of the movement-machine : Deleuze, cinema and the London Underground

• Main Author: Jobst, Marko
• Published: University College London (University of London) 2005
• Subjects: 725.3101
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.417050

This thesis addresses the London Underground in the light of Gilles Deleuze's philosophy of cinema. The first chapter gives an overview of the aspects of Deleuze's philosophy, which are of particular interest in the context of architectural theory. The main postulates of transcendental empiricism are explained, followed by the four major concepts: space, time, image and event. The second chapter deals with Deleuze's understanding of the cinematic frame. The relationship between the frame and the content of framing is shown as possibly inherently dynamic. A description of the major points regarding the Underground corridor follows, with the explanation of the condition of the walking body and its relation to the surrounds. Finally, the notion of the cinematic frame and acts of framing are utilised for the conceptualisation of the Underground corridor, showing the notion of movement to be of crucial importance. Chapter three regards the platform event in relation to the cinematic shot, which is explained to be a matter of conversion of movement. The specificity of the Underground platform is related, and the relationship between the body and the moving object of the train explained. The conjunction between the platform and the shot is then proposed, to show that the platform stands at a point of conversion of movement, transforming body's relationship to its environment. Chapter four is the discussion of the Underground carriage, and its understanding in the light of Deleuze's conceptualisation of the cinematic close-up. The close-up is shown to represent a specific, qualitative transformation, which marks the shift of movement in the direction of expression. The concept of any-space-whatever is then related as an example of Deleuze's transformation of the close-up of the face to the object and then to a spatial figure. The specifics of the Underground carriage are related, introducing the notion of the motionless body inside a moving confinement, as well as the presentation of 'facialisation.' The third part of the chapter sees the explanation of the carriage event in the light of the close-up/affection-image, and it pays special attention to the transformation of movement into expression. Finally, Chapter Five sees the discussion of the Underground in general, and its relation to the city. Deleuze's understanding of the concept of montage is explained in particular its relationship to time and construction of continuities and wholes across ruptures. The Underground is discussed as an urban system and its relation to the city that harbours it addressed. Finally, a particular understanding of urban montage is proposed, one wholly dependent on the presence of the Underground system.