Screening ProgramTerritories of the In/Human

Screening Program July 6 – 24, 2010
With films and videos by
bankleer, Patricia Esquivias, Korpys / Löffler, Elena Kovylina, Christine Meisner, Olivier Menanteau, Damir Ocko, Monika Oechsler, Amie Siegel, Helene Sommer, José Carlos Teixeira, Alexey Terehoff, Ingrid Wildi

– Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 7pm
Magical Constructions / Constructions of the Magical

Patricia Esquivias, Folklore I, 2006, 12’
Patricia Esquivias, Folklore II, 2008, 14’
Monika Oechsler, There is only one Life, 2006, 12’ 50’’
Korpys / Löffler, The Nuclear Football, 2004, 30’ 30’’
Olivier Menanteau, Media Alert, 2006, 12’30’’

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Patricia Esquivias, Folklore I, 2006
Patricia Esquivias, Folklore II, 2008
In her videos Folklore I and Folklore II, Patricia Esquivias develops her ideas about the history, identity, and culture of Spain through notes, diagrams, and photographs, weaving together seemingly unrelated events and facts Her derivations and references between a fried-egg-eating contest, real estate speculation, a folk festival, and the club culture of the nineteen-eighties and nineties (Folklore I) — or between the Spanish King Philip II, the pop singer Julio Iglesias, and the sun as a tourism factor (Folklore II) —appear simultaneously plausible, naïve, and reminiscent of a crude conspiracy theory.

Monika Oechsler, There is Only One Life, 2006
The video work There is Only One Life reflects consumer society’s spiritual search for meaning beyond the traditional religious denominations. With recourse to Cabalist doctrine, poems by the British painter and poet William Blake, the science-fiction comic strip and novel Promethea by Alan Moore, as well as to song lyrics from the bands Verve and Radiohead, this video collage follows the four different incarnations of the novel’s protagonist Promethea. The setting includes different locations in London: the financial district Canary Wharf, a London Underground station, and the Abney Cemetery.

Korpys / Löffler, The Nuclear Football, 2004
The Nuclear Football accompanies George W. Bush during his official state visit to Berlin in 2002: from his arrival at Tegel Airport to his visit at Schloss Bellevue. Of focus here besides diplomatic protocols is a suitcase: the so-called “Nuclear Football” that accompanies all travels of U.S. presidents enabling them to command a nuclear war should the United States be attacked.

Olivier Menanteau, Media Alert, 2006
The video Media Alert shows different situations shot by the artist in 2006 at the press and conference halls of the United Nations in New York City. Here, a woman postulates outlawing rape as a war strategy in the context of the elections in the Congo; another woman pleads for the genetic conservation of indigenous peoples; and at an AIDS-related event children are seen performing African dances. The machinery of the United Nations is explored here in regards to its protocols, mediagenic representations, and colonialist implications.