Thursday, December 11th, 8 PM, in Berlin - a screening program selected and presented by Florian Wüst, with works by Doug Aitken, Neil Beloufa, Maja Borg, Lotte Schreiber, Franciszka & Stefan Themerson.
Inspired by Electric Earth, the single channel version of Doug Aitken's expansive video installation from 1999 available at EVR, this program of experimental and documentary short films explores the power of imagination, the potential of the supernatural that derives from the foundations of our highly technological world. Acts against common logic, the refusal to conform to present capitalist society, animistic beliefs and the promise of resource-based technology are juxtaposed with mental and urban landscapes that seem to signify the shortcomings of modernity.
In Lotte Schreiber's video quadro (2002), a massive 1960s housing block in the Italian city of Triest serves as material and structure for the filmic interpretation. Through the rhythm of the editing and the refined electronic soundtrack by Stefan Neméths, quadro represents the filmmaker's fascination for the built manifestation of a radical architectural concept and failed social utopia. The Adventure of a Good Citizen (1937), an irrational humoresque and social satire, is the last film Franciszka & Stefan Themerson produced before leaving Poland for Paris and London. In the 1930s, the Themersons were the most important makers of avant-garde film in pre-war Poland. In the form of a fable, The Adventure of a Good Citizen unfolds the story of a man who wants to escape from convention by walking backwards, against the protest of his fellow citizens. Aitken's Electric Earth draws a connection between mechanically generated electricity and the nervous system of the human body. During an evening walk in an abondoned urban landscape of a Los Angeles suburb, the body of breakdancer Ali 'Giggi' Johnson reacts to the electricity that manifests itself in his surroundings via light, sound, and movement. "A lot of times I dance so fast that I become what's around me," says Johnson in the voiceover. Mysteries of the present are also shown in Beil Beloufa's science fiction documentary Kempinski (2007). Shot in Mali, the video introduces the residents of a mystical and animistic place. Using present tense, they speak about future and alien technologies such as telepathy and telethought. Beloufa confronts us with the common prejudice about progress and backwardness; advanced technology, as we know it today, appears backward in comparison to the one presented in Kempinski. The ideas of 91-year-old futurist and industrial designer Jacques Fresco rely on scientific advancement linked to social wisdom which he finds corrupted in a world ruled by money and limited access to information. In Maja Borg's experimental documentary, Ottica Zero (2007), Fresco, along with animated views of his futuristic architectural models, appears as part of the story of Italian actress Nadya Cazan. With TV and film offers flooding in, she refused to accept the competitive and superficial values of the society they represented. Ottica Zero follows Nadya on her search for alternative ways of living; a quest to discover a means to recycle the whole spectrum of cultures and political ideologies into a new way of managing global society.
PROGRAM
The Adventure of a Good CitizenFranciszka & Stefan Themerson, PL, 1937, 10'
Electric EarthDoug Aitken, USA, 1999, 15'
quadroLotte Schreiber, A, 2002, 10'
KempinskiNeil Beloufa, F, 2007, 14'
Ottica ZeroMaja Borg, SE, 2007, 13'Distributed by Filmformhttp://www.filmform.com
Florian Wüst is a visual artist and film curator based in Berlin. His programs and film series screen internationally, venues include, amongst others, the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, the Austrian Filmmuseum Vienna, centre d'art passerelle, Brest, and Kino Arsenal, Berlin. Together with Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, he recently published the book Who says concrete doesn't burn, have you tried? West Berlin Film in the 80's, Berlin: b_books 2008.
The building is open Thursday through Saturday, 12 – 6 pm. Come visit!For further information please contact Magdalena Magiera: magdalena@e-flux.com
the buildingPlatz der Vereinten Nationen 14a10249 Berlin DET: 030 28 04 79 73
Inspired by Electric Earth, the single channel version of Doug Aitken's expansive video installation from 1999 available at EVR, this program of experimental and documentary short films explores the power of imagination, the potential of the supernatural that derives from the foundations of our highly technological world. Acts against common logic, the refusal to conform to present capitalist society, animistic beliefs and the promise of resource-based technology are juxtaposed with mental and urban landscapes that seem to signify the shortcomings of modernity.
In Lotte Schreiber's video quadro (2002), a massive 1960s housing block in the Italian city of Triest serves as material and structure for the filmic interpretation. Through the rhythm of the editing and the refined electronic soundtrack by Stefan Neméths, quadro represents the filmmaker's fascination for the built manifestation of a radical architectural concept and failed social utopia. The Adventure of a Good Citizen (1937), an irrational humoresque and social satire, is the last film Franciszka & Stefan Themerson produced before leaving Poland for Paris and London. In the 1930s, the Themersons were the most important makers of avant-garde film in pre-war Poland. In the form of a fable, The Adventure of a Good Citizen unfolds the story of a man who wants to escape from convention by walking backwards, against the protest of his fellow citizens. Aitken's Electric Earth draws a connection between mechanically generated electricity and the nervous system of the human body. During an evening walk in an abondoned urban landscape of a Los Angeles suburb, the body of breakdancer Ali 'Giggi' Johnson reacts to the electricity that manifests itself in his surroundings via light, sound, and movement. "A lot of times I dance so fast that I become what's around me," says Johnson in the voiceover. Mysteries of the present are also shown in Beil Beloufa's science fiction documentary Kempinski (2007). Shot in Mali, the video introduces the residents of a mystical and animistic place. Using present tense, they speak about future and alien technologies such as telepathy and telethought. Beloufa confronts us with the common prejudice about progress and backwardness; advanced technology, as we know it today, appears backward in comparison to the one presented in Kempinski. The ideas of 91-year-old futurist and industrial designer Jacques Fresco rely on scientific advancement linked to social wisdom which he finds corrupted in a world ruled by money and limited access to information. In Maja Borg's experimental documentary, Ottica Zero (2007), Fresco, along with animated views of his futuristic architectural models, appears as part of the story of Italian actress Nadya Cazan. With TV and film offers flooding in, she refused to accept the competitive and superficial values of the society they represented. Ottica Zero follows Nadya on her search for alternative ways of living; a quest to discover a means to recycle the whole spectrum of cultures and political ideologies into a new way of managing global society.
PROGRAM
The Adventure of a Good CitizenFranciszka & Stefan Themerson, PL, 1937, 10'
Electric EarthDoug Aitken, USA, 1999, 15'
quadroLotte Schreiber, A, 2002, 10'
KempinskiNeil Beloufa, F, 2007, 14'
Ottica ZeroMaja Borg, SE, 2007, 13'Distributed by Filmformhttp://www.filmform.com
Florian Wüst is a visual artist and film curator based in Berlin. His programs and film series screen internationally, venues include, amongst others, the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, the Austrian Filmmuseum Vienna, centre d'art passerelle, Brest, and Kino Arsenal, Berlin. Together with Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, he recently published the book Who says concrete doesn't burn, have you tried? West Berlin Film in the 80's, Berlin: b_books 2008.
The building is open Thursday through Saturday, 12 – 6 pm. Come visit!For further information please contact Magdalena Magiera: magdalena@e-flux.com
the buildingPlatz der Vereinten Nationen 14a10249 Berlin DET: 030 28 04 79 73
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