Seite - 84 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 04/02

Revisiting the Relevance of Conceptualism of Godard’s Film | 83www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 83–113 Vuk Uskoković Revisiting the Relevance of Conceptualism of Godard’s Film ABSTRACT Jean-Luc Godard’s filmmaking is analyzed as a conceptual art, as in agreement with his most accomplished role as a film critic, not a classical filmmaker. In his 1970 manifesto, Godard argues that (1) we must make political films, and (2) we must make films politi- cally. While the first point provokes a constructive critique of the art of cinema, the second point leads to the provision of an absolute cinematic experience. Correspond- ingly, it is argued that albeit rare and systematically unsupported in the academic set- ting, the most prolific scientific work is such that it implicitly questions the dominant presentation styles and methodological paradigms in parallel with providing mean- ingful basic and/or practical findings. Multiple other scientifically relevant elements of Godard’s conceptual approach to revolutionizing the art of cinema are elaborated too. Particularly highlighted is the importance of ad hoc improvisation, deliberate im- perfectness, the aesthetics of poverty, the embracement of all-encompassing uncer- tainties, and the eagerness to constantly get lost to be found. “I don’t make movies; I make cinema” is Godard’s precept, whose translation to any professional field, includ- ing scientific research and teaching, could produce uncountable benefits. Correlating well with the Buberian ontology, Godard’s art is intimately tied to the iteration of the point that the value of an act is measured by the extent to which it reaches out away from the subject and into the world. Corresponding annihilations of the protagonists symbolize the necessity of the artist’s working against the self in the attempt to use his art to destroy the art in question and point at everything as an equally precious art. At the religious plane, this longing for the incessant negation of the self and the attraction to epistemic and existential poverty are perceived as a route to the birth of a diviner self. The discourse follows an impulsive and unstructured course so as to veritably reflect Godard’s approach to filmmaking. KEYWORDS Adieu au Langage (FR 2014), anarchism, conceptual art, Histoire(s) du cinéma (FR/CH 1988–2000), Jean-Luc Godard, natural science, La Nouvelle Vague BIOGRAPHY Vuk Uskoković was appointed assistant professor of bioengineering at the Univer- sity of Illinois in Chicago in 2013 and of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences at Chapman University in Orange County, California, in 2016. He is the founder and the DOI: 10.25364/05.4:2018.2.6