A Missed Encounter between Species: The Interplay of Scientific Realism and Aesthetics in Painlevé’s Cinematographic Experiments on the Octopus

Silvia Casini* (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Jean Painlevé’s films blend aesthetic concerns and scientific realism operating a micro-turn within the broader cinematographic turn that occurred in the sciences in the 20th century. By engaging with his films on the octopus, an animal studied to illuminate human consciousness and firmly grounded in the popular imagination through literature and the arts, this article demonstrates how Painlevé embraced a politics of life organised around the concept of a missed encounter between life forms.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)127-156
Number of pages30
JournalStudi di Estetica
Volume24
Issue number3
Early online date1 Dec 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2022

Keywords

  • Aesthetic and scientific realism
  • Missed encounter
  • Octopus

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