Narrating Through Ruins

Audiovisual Strategies in Are You Still Moving Forward

抄録

Contemporary audiovisual works based on computer programming often display a high degree of interactivity between sound and image. Due to their widely acknowledged abstract and nonnarrative nature, such creations pose a challenge to classical narratology, which is primarily based on traditional plot structures. In response, poststructuralist thought offers a new analytical path: it shifts the focus from universal textual structures to how a text creates a dynamic, context-specific experience for the viewer—defined here as "narrativity." This focus on "experience" necessitates an examination of the mechanisms that effectively trigger a viewer's personal memory and cultural interpretation. This paper argues that the aesthetics of "ruin" constitutes such a powerful mechanism. Therefore, taking the audiovisual project Are You Still Moving Forward as its main case study, this paper aims to dissect how the imagery of ruins operates within the work to generate its unique narrative potential. Ultimately, this study not only illuminates the artistic value of the specific work but also demonstrates the efficacy of a poststructuralist perspective in understanding non-traditional narrative forms in contemporary media.