2026-10-06T22:26:57Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/32641929 2026-10-01T16:19:39Z portal_1172 item_type_8 month_year_10_2026

Placing the gaze: environmental experience and the landscape view Richard O'Sullivan (15007479) PUREID: 658904304 landscape place practice as research Edward Casey Denis Cosgrove phenomenology Marxism materialism ways of seeing vision Wales nature This research addresses two contrasting theorisations of the experience of wild or natural places. Using a practice as research methodology centred on the production of a 63-minute experimental film, entitled Elenydd, the project seeks to identify the film techniques through which we can express and embody these theorisations. It asks how the two understandings can be brought into juxtaposition within a cinematic work, and what insights can be produced by engaging with the theories through film practice. There are two aspects, then, to the conceptual framework of this project. The first emphasizes the treatment of the environment as a ‘landscape’. This ‘way of seeing’ subjects the environment to a particular type of vision, infused with ideological meanings. Developing from a Marxist and materialist position, this theorisation offers a political critique of the landscape gaze. By contrast, the phenomenological approach offered by Edward S. Casey describes an immersed, bodily experience of the environment and the holistic functioning of the senses. The central research method for this project has been filmmaking practice. During the production process for the film Elenydd the researcher conceived, tested and reflected on the cinematic means through which these theoretical positions might be conveyed. Further reflection took place during post-production. The findings of this research can be grouped in four areas. Firstly, some important insights, obscurities and contradictions in the theoretical positions have been identified. Secondly, the practice research method has demonstrated a range of filmic techniques that can be seen to express the two theories, and suggested the creative and conceptual possibilities and problems of attempting to do so. This research has provided insights into the semantic and intellectual complexities presented by key terms and concepts such as ‘landscape’, ‘place’, and ‘natural’. The original contribution also lies in the landscape film Elenydd and its cinematic approaches. Thesis copyright: Richard O'Sullivan 2025. Thesis embargoed until 31st December 2030 2026-10-01T16:19:39Z Text Thesis 10.17034/32641929.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Placing_the_gaze_environmental_experience_and_the_landscape_view/32641929 All Rights Reserved Open Access after 2030-12-31