The disembodied gaze: plays of masks e in science-fiction cinema

Abstract

This paper examines the actor’s performance of android characters in science fiction films. We will l discuss how the recurring motif of the unmasking of the android puts the human face and gaze into question. From A clever dummy (1917) to Blade Runner 2049 (2017), we will l analyze some of the narrative and aesthetic strategies that transform the actor in a machine-like character, also pointing to early manifestations of the figure of the android in Western culture and to some of its recent developments in the work of artists Otávio Donasci, Tony Oursler and Denis Marleau.