Seeing with the Skin 👀✋
Coined by the influential media theorist Laura U. Marks, the concept of haptic visuality proposes a different way of experiencing a cinematic image. It stands in contrast to the more common optical visuality.
- Optical Visuality: This is our everyday mode of seeing. The eye scans an image, distinguishes objects from their background, identifies figures, and comprehends a coherent, three-dimensional space. The goal is to look through the image to understand the story and the information it contains.
- Haptic Visuality: This is a mode of seeing that mimics the sense of touch. The eye moves across the surface of the image as if grazing it with a hand, becoming absorbed in its texture, grain, color, and form. The goal is to look at the image as a physical, textural object, blurring the boundary between the viewer’s body and the screen.
Cinematic Techniques that Elicit a Haptic Response
A haptic response is often triggered by cinematic techniques that frustrate or deny a purely optical reading of the image:
- Grain and Texture: The prominent grain of 16mm film, the electronic noise of low-resolution video, or the physical scratches and imperfections of archival footage all draw attention to the image’s material surface.
- Extreme Close-Ups: Tight shots on the texture of skin, fabric, or other surfaces encourage a tactile rather than a spatial perception.
- Blur and Abstraction: Images that are out of focus, overexposed, or abstract prevent the viewer from easily identifying objects, forcing them to engage with the image as a field of color and light.
Marks initially developed this theory in relation to intercultural and experimental cinema, where images may be culturally or aesthetically unfamiliar. Lacking the context for an easy optical understanding, the viewer is invited to experience the film in a more sensory, tactile, and embodied way. The films of directors like Claire Denis or Stan Brakhage are often cited as prime examples of haptic cinema.