THE UNCANNY

'The Uncanny' is generally known a Freudian term for the explanation of something that is 'closely recognisable' or 'familiar yet strange'. In previous modules I have come across this term but not in a lot of detail. In particular the experimental modules often refer to the concept of 'The Uncanny' as it is a common theme within experimental filmmaking. I studied the experimental film 'Un Chien Andalou' which i feel plays with the term. In one part of the film there is a hand with ants crawling out of it. Although it has many connotations of the Spanish bourgouis society at the time it also tricks the audiences minds, the hand looks real but the ants exuding out of a small hole in it is physically impossible and so it makes the audience question.
In this weeks session I was given some examples of the uncanny used in art. One example was from artist Ron Mueck and his sculptures that are made with such precision and detail that they appear very realistic (the familiar) however the scales of the sculptures are played with, making a young girl appear as a towering 9ft culture or a fully grown man on a dwarf scale (the strange).
Another example of how the uncanny concept is used in art could be it's use in horror films. Often the scary characters are often the ones that are slightly un-human, walking disjointedly or their faces looking more mannequin-like than human. Films such as 'The Ring' that features the 'dead yet un-dead' girl who walks with broken bones and who's face we never see as it is covered by her hair. As a human when we are presented with something that physically resembles a familiar object we assume it is real and constantly look for it's flaws, the flaws are often interpreted as 'strange' and therefor we become cautious of it's authenticity. This creates a distance with the object even though we feel we can closely relate to it. The unease of the uncanny makes an audience unsettled and constantly on edge. This concept is to be the driving force of our CPR set designs.