Ulla von Brandenburg, 8, 2007
16mm film transferred to HD video, B&W, no sound. 8 min 10 sec
Courtesy the David and Indrė Roberts Collection
Two men fishing in a man-made boating lake, another with a walking stick and dog greeting a group lounging in the grass, and now the camera moves back, revealing that this scene is set in front of a huge chateau. The opening shot is a close-up of the painting Vue du Château de Chamarande, now hanging in the interior of that very same French castle and painted in 1785 by Hubert Robert (1733-1808), who also landscaped the château garden.¹ Located in what is now a southern suburb of Paris, this castle garden scene idealises the life of Enlightenment intellectuals and aristocracy, made even more grandiose by being painted in the Romantic style, with Robert adding in ‘sublime’ elements like rocky cliffs in the background, which in reality are much softer hills.²
1 Robert was an interesting character. A celebrated painter and landscaper, he also helped design Versailles’ gardens having been appointed 'Designer of the King’s Gardens' and 'Keeper of the Kings Pictures.' During the French Revolution he only managed to escape the guillotine because another prisoner with a similar name got executed in his place. After the fall of Robespierre, Robert was then one of five on a committee in charge of changing the Louvre from a palace to the new national museum.
2 'Hubert Robert', Domaine Départemental de Chamarande available at www.chamarande.essonne.fr/hubert-robert-vues-2013-2014/, 2014. Last accessed 20 July 2020.
In Ulla von Brandenburg’s 16mm film 8 (2007) the camera moves in one fluid motion in what seems to be one continuous steady-cam take, away from the shot of this painting through a succession of ‘living’, yet perfectly still images. The movement of the camera traces a figure of eight through the interior of the chateau, a motion hinted at tracking past a man holding an elastic band between his fingers, stretched as a sideways eight or an infinity loop.³
3 Jens Hoffmann, 'Theatre and It’s Double' available at www.archive.wattis.org/exhibitions/passengers-18-ulla-von-brandenburg', CCA Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts, 2008. Last accessed 23 July 2020.
Each of the baroque rooms of the Château de Chamarande reveals another tableau vivant, which translates from the French as a 'living picture.' These are stationary and silent scenes made up of people in various poses, often with props or costumes. Combining aspects of visual arts and theatre, usually they are re-enactments, either for educational or entertainment purposes. From the late middle ages onwards painting-like tableaux were seen on the streets in a similar vein to contemporary living statues, especially to impress crowds at large processions, weddings or coronations. They also have a strong tradition in the Western art historical narrative of painting and sculpture itself, with artists in movements including Romanticism and the Pre-Raphaelites placing models in tableaux vivants in their studio to create their highly stylised scenes. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries they became commonplace in the musical halls, fairgrounds and variety shows with (almost always female) models imitating Old Master paintings, classical statues or more contemporary scenes.⁴ Around the same time censorship forbade actors to move on stage when nude or semi-nude, so tableaux became a way to circumvent this or present more risqué or erotic entertainment within the confines of Victorian morals.
4 Elena Stevens, 'Making a Spectacle of Themselves: Art and Female Agency in 1890s Music Hall', IATL vol 6, issue 2, University of Warwick.
