For a history of black

This article presents a translation of a study by Sean Cubitt, Professor at the University of Melbourne, titled For a History of Black, originally published in 2008 in Scan: Journal of Media Arts and Culture by the Department of Media, Music, Communications, and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University in Sydney. The author explores the physiological, technological, and cultural challenges associated with the (non)color “black”. In his view, black represents the complete absence of color—an ideal that can never be fully realized. Across different media arts, black manifests in distinct ways. In numerous contexts—such as low-light cinematography, early television, and new media art—artists have creatively harnessed the limitations and artifacts arising from the specific ways production technologies engage with black. The detailed history of media as it relates to black is also connected by the author to questions of aesthetics. He considers the presence of black in the chiaroscuro of Rembrandt’s paintings, the physiology of color perception, and the use of black-and-white imagery in cinema. Specific examples analyzed include Alexander Korda’s film Rembrandt; the symbolic use of black in The Quatermass Experiment (1953); and the use of chiaroscuro in William Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931), as well as in Josef von Sternberg’s films with Marlene Dietrich: Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), and others.