Dialogue on the postmodern uncanny

The following text is a section from an email dialogue between Dale Cochrane, my mentor and myself discussing the possible relationship between postmodern contemporary culture and the unanny;

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dale Cochrane"
> >
> hi Maria
> yes I had a good weekend thanks - and you?
> I am very interested in your blog - I m not sure if you have seen
> Chris Cunningham’s work - would you consider it uncanny? - When I see
> the Rabbit heads they remind me of Donnie Darko - a memory of
> something familiar / frightening but almost comforting.. -
> "catastrophic disasters (natural and manmade) that are graphically
> depicted in our living rooms on a daily basis"- do you mean by this
> that these images that we view on television could be considered
> uncanny?
> dale

On 5/14/06, maria edney wrote:
> Hi Dale,
in response to your email;
>
> I was blissfully (and ignorantly!) unaware of Chris Cunningham's work. I
> have since watched his Bjork video, which is exceptional, and contains many
> key elements (according to Freud) necessary to induce an uncanny experience,
> i.e automata, doppelgangers etc. I am currently searching for a copy of his
> video for 'Come to Daddy' by The Aphex Twin (highly recommended by my ND
> students who now think I'm totally cool and hip!) Cunningham's work is
> definitely of the uncanny ilk and somehow reminded me of Bladerunner and The
> Matrix. I think it is the imagery relating to an uncertain and frightening
> (future) existence where the commonality lies. Thank you for this line of
> enquiry. I would welcome your thoughts on this.
>
> Thank you too for your comments on the rabbit heads. I especially like
> Donnie Darko (particularly the music which has so many goose-pimple inducing
> key changes, brilliant!) and I can see what you mean about the similarity. I
> had not thought about this at all when I was drawing but now wonder if there
> was something in my subconscious as the rabbit likeness now seems quite
> marked?
>
> As for your question regarding,
> "catastrophic disasters (natural and manmade) that are graphically
> depicted in our living rooms on a daily basis"- do you mean by this
> that these images that we view on television could be considered
> uncanny?
No, I did not mean this, although it is a very good point that you
> make and upon reflection I think some are. The unnaturalness of many images
> and the familiar made unfamiliar depicted in many news reports and in
> prophetic films can definitely have an uncanny effect in my opinion. They
> certainly create a climate of fear and add to our perception of a fragile
> world existence. The blurring of the real and the unreal.
>
> However, what I meant was, that we, as a culture and society in general, are
> exposed to a plethora of imagery that is presented in such a way as to be
> shocking, overwhelmingly detailed, voyeuristic and increasingly impersonal
> as we become desensitised and yet hungry to see more. Much of the media
> reportage today seems to stimulate a climate of fear and encourage a state
> of jouissance from viewing horror, cruelty and the misfortune of others
> generally. (A bit like the Romans throwing Christians to the lions, now
> there's an idea for a reality TV show!) I think there may be a link between
> this cultural state and the prevalence of bizarre, uncanny and deskilled
> aesthetics which abound at the moment. I wonder if there is a similarity
> between the primitive tendencies of the modernist artists in response to
> fear of the machine age and the deskilled and frequently child-like
> stylisation adopted today in post-modern times when there is a fear of the
> future generally. Is this aesthetic style (often reflecting black humour
> too) a device to express our fears about life and death in a technological
> age where there is no room for the comfort afforded by a religion? Could
> this tendency be contributing to the popularity of outsider art for
> instance? In terms of an uncanny aesthetic I can think of no better examples
> than the art made under the auspices of outsider art and so much of today’s
> edgy and contemporary art adopts this kind of aesthetic and style?
>
> Please let me know what you think.
> Kind regards, Maria.