REFERENCE: Confinement in Film

Confinement, enclosure and claustrophobia are all extremely common forms of fear and paranoia that most people can unanimously relate to in some way. The use of confined spaces in film is possibly the most frequently utilised method of creating fear, tension and anxiety. It is because many of us can relate to this predicament that they have such an effect on us, it starts very early on in childhood. Our exploration of spaces and the world only leads to more, we are unsure where these spaces and pathways take us. At the basis of all these emotions is our sense of curiosity and fear of the unknown and surprise. These all work together to emphasise the most basic of spatial phobias.

Alice in Wonderland (1999) directed by Nick Willing

Alice in Wonderland directed by Jan Svankmajor

Kill Bill Volume. 2 (2004) directed by Quentin Tarantino

PRACTICE: Jack in a Box

There is a really interesting border between comfort and confinement. The smaller spaces are, the more we tend to feel uncomfortable and constrained. At the same time, some people are reassured by smaller spaces, by a sanctuary, a pocket of space big enough for themselves alone. Just by comparing cenophobia and claustrophobia for example; one is the fear of barren, open spaces, and the other is a fear of crowded, tight spaces. The fact that we are able to pivot towards either extreme demonstrates just how much space can affect us. Can a smaller space become a refuge or a prison?

Above the Below (2003) by David Blaine

1 Without (2010) by Wannes Goetschalckx

1 Kind (2007) by Wannes Goetschalckx

Wannes Goetschalckx is a performance artist who works a lot with restricted spaces. He looks at the emotional and physical in relation to body and space. He aims to reveal the hidden and apparent constraints in human life, the coexistence of comfort and pain, exposure and enclosure, cage and shelter.

"1 Without" is a video installation featuring Goetschlackx doing different activities in various sized wooden boxes, exploring the notion of captivity. It is reminiscent of what children do when they find empty boxes and containers to hide or play inside. From a young age, we learn to explore with our imagination. As we get older we tend to associate smaller spaces more and more with confinement and not play. We see spaces only on the surface, and we no longer seem to possess that curiosity for creating spaces of our own.

'Watch Where You Look' (2012) by Vivienne Du

The Box Task Day 16, Big Brother 6 (2005) courtesy of Channel 4

A task from Big Brother 6 required all the housemates to stay in their assigned cardboard boxes for as long as possible. Due to the nature of Big Brother, the activity was posed as a fun and entertaining treatment of the housemates' endurance. At first the housemates seemed to enjoy their new challenge but clearly as the time went on, the confinement of staying in a box for hours on end clearly became too unbearable for most. Three managed to stay in their boxes for just over 26 hours, you wonder whether they were simply not as affected by space or their determination drove them to stay.

Freak Like Me, courtesy of BBC3