The return of the lost gesture. Estrangement, interval and shock in the work of Chema Madoz
Abstract
Madoz’s gaze, turned towards a hidden reality, to what is merely glimpsed, the invisible of the visible, holds the ability of meddling in what surrounds us, establishing analogic correspondences between things. It confronts the viewer with its automatisms and routines, shaking both the mechanisation of the gaze and the thought. This essay is focused on the operating mechanisms of Madoz’s photography, a polyhedral work that demands an interdisciplinary study. Widening the methodological focus and approaching his work through interartistic studies is therefore necessary. To this end, this essay analyses madozian images and their mechanisms through a theoretical framework comprising of ostranenie or Viktor Shklovsky’s strangeness and Russian formalism, Brecht’s distancing, Benjamin’s theories of interruption or shock, as well as Burger’s systemisation of inorganic works of art. This framework should lead to an understanding of how Madoz’s photography is composed and how it operates, as well as revealing the deautomising potential of his images.
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