The Colour of Nothing: contemporary video art, SF and the postmodern sublime | Andrew Frost

Summary: Changing the Climate: Utopia, Dystopia and Catastrophe | Andrew Frost The depiction of the sublime in science fiction has relied on a venerable visual language of Romantic art largely unchanged since the 19th century. Recent films such as Knowing (2009), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009) are prime examples of this tradition and constitute part of the new ‘eco-catastrophe’ sub- genre of SF cinema. Drawing on the theories of Jean-Francois Lyotard, Frederic Jameson and the writings of artists including Barnett Newman and Yves Klein, this paper asks how contemporary artists have articulated a ‘post modern sublime’ in works with an explicit engagement with science-fictional concepts. Using the work of four Australian video art makers, the paper examines the use of the void – or nothingness – as a state of potentiality, or as an oppressive presence, linking these videos to examples of the void found in landmark SF cinema such as The Matrix (1999) and THX 1138 (1971). Andrew Frost is an art critic, writer and broadcaster who wrote and presented the ABC television series The Art Life. He is the author of the monograph The Boys and is a PhD candidate at the College of Fine Arts, University of NSW.