Learning Farocki
When we live in a world in which theoretically anyone can make images what does it mean for the production of images and the meaning of images? What sort of images really make a difference?
Following my tenure as the first artist-in-residence of the newly formed Harun Farocki Institut in Berlin, I produced a series of video essays on Farocki (1944-2014) for the Goethe-Institut, sponsors of the Harun Farocki Residency and ambassadors for the contribution of Farocki’s extensive collection of films and videos. The three video essays adopt Farocki’s own strategy of “images studying images” to explore the artist’s own formidable oeuvre, applying such novel approaches as desktop documentary and videographic lexicography.
Farocki’s work allowed me to see new possibilities for the work I was doing. It’s about a way of not just appreciating cinema but seeing the world through a lens of audiovisual criticism. His work is only beginning to be fully appreciated for what it implies about understanding all the different ways that the audiovisual influences our life today, especially thinking about digital culture. It’s about maintaining a critical distance and awareness with all of this media activity. Farocki’s work brings thoughtfulness, mindfulness and critical awareness back to the experience of media.
Series World Premiere, 2019 Open City Documentary Festival
2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam
2020 Images Festival Toronto
2019 Munich Dok.Fest
2019 Curtocircuito International Short Film Festival, Santiago de Compostela Spain
2019 Besides the Screen Conference, São Paulo