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Miniature and Series: The Re-invention of the Epistolary Form in the Work of Alexander Hahn

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Digital Media and Documentary

Abstract

This chapter uses a case study to examine the video “miniature” as a documentary method to capture transient and ephemeral interactions as a particular conceptual and aesthetic strategy. It analyses the video vignettes of Alexander Hahn’s Bharat|India blog (2012–2013) and Indian Records (2013), seeing the vignettes as miniatures that re-invent the epistolary form more commonly seen in the scientific field diary, sketchbook, journal and travelogue. The video miniatures in the case study allow for an intimate, personal and reflexive practice and offers a way to reflect on the incongruities, strangeness, vastness and beauty of the world, within the context of accelerated urban density and a changing anthropogenic worldview.

For John Conomos and Helene de Burgh-Woodman.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Creative Industries, Faculty of Education and Arts, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Cathie Payne

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  1. Cathie Payne
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Adrian Miles

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Payne, C. (2018). Miniature and Series: The Re-invention of the Epistolary Form in the Work of Alexander Hahn. In: Miles, A. (eds) Digital Media and Documentary. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68643-1_6

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