The Power of Cinema” – Enthusiasm and Anxieties. Articles and Artworks by Sirak Skitnik, 1929–1940

Abstract

There are relatively few articles by Sirak Skitnik specifically dedicated to cinema. But cinema and its possibilities are a constant subject of attention in his publications: in comparisons drawn with theatre and the impact of the street in the modern city. The first part of the article discusses the enthusiasm and anxieties of the art critic regarding the power of cinema at the time of the advent of talking pictures. In the same years, Sirak Skitnik was carrying out artistic experiments: composing and dynamizing space with ideas from the cinematic frame. The second part of the publication includes examples of drawings and paintings. In conclusion, Sirak Skitnik’s work as a critic and artist is full of contradictions in relation to cinema: with anxiety and fear concerning its ability to influence the masses and the commercial interest in following their predilections, but also with excitement about the new possibilities for creating a fantasy world, for mastering time and dynamizing the image.