Response to Life Experience & Noel Polk (Noni's Post)

I was unable to attend Noel Polk's lecture on "Living Outside of History," but on reading Noni's post (thank you Noni!) I started to consider more of the notions of life experience as it translates to critical theory. As Noni said of Polk's approach to theory, "It was a way of drawing out the very complex issues that arise out of everyday life," and this took me back to a seminar I saw recently from screenwriter, producer and executive producer Andrew Knight at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Although this was more of an industry practice seminar rather than an intended theoretical approach to practice, it has resonated in a very interesting way with the Noel Polk to show life experience through history and narrative in a kind of dialogue with one another.

Knight's career has spanned over the past 30+ years and in this lecture, he spoke of his craft and approach to practice as it pertains to the dynamics of the Australian context and the industry that this context nurtures. Just as Polk explored social identity, Knight too highlighted social factors and issues of identity as narrative material in telling Australian stories. With this in mind, life experience has always been Knight's approach to writing and rationalism has driven his approach to creativity. This was quite clearly evident in the way that he conducted himself throughout his speaking, as it is the everyday that inspires and has the ability to entrance. "As a writer, you need to remain close with people, your community...remain with the world outside your head." It's about finding characters in real life that can translate to flesh on the page. These notions of rational and realist derivations have spurred Knight's creative practice, and successfully so. In the context of the Australian industry, however, he noted a sense of pandering to America for validation.

As he commented, Australia spends a great deal of time and money trying to "justify itself in its film culture," but the biggest problem for us is embracing the fact that we are not America. Our stories, histories, identities, myths, crises and triumphs are ours, and by tailoring them to America in an attempt to justify ourselves, our culture/s is devalued. We're dragging ourselves into American formulas unnecessarily without considering the value of success in our own backyard. Where is the sense of pride for Australia? Throughout his seminar, this connection to Australia and passion for art in our country was clearly evident and certainly infectious.
His perspective also sat on the side of art rather than commerce, and as such, one Bec Haly may have a retort...

With his craft and approaches at core, Knight's seminar tapped into very personal aspects of his industry practice and allowed insight into how the sense of self plays into any practice. One of his closing comments was, "The only way you can justify life is through your culture," and again, a contextualisation of practice as it sits in the Australian industry was broached and has profoundly in my own practice since.

From both Polk and Knight it can be said that life experience plays past and present, and by living those experiences we may then step outside of them to observe greater engagement in theoretical and practical pursuit.