Object! On the Documentary as Art
4 Feb – 8 Mar 2017
Whitechapel Gallery
77-82 Whitechapel High St
London
E1 7QX
Please join us for a one-day symposium to explore the aesthetic potential, political stakes and ethical challenges that arise from regarding documentary film as an art object. We will consider documentary as a commodity in circulation, a resource in artistic production, a material trace, a document, or simply as “a thing like you and me” (Hito Steyerl).
With a keynote by Erika Balsom, presentations by Rosalind Nashashibi, Mairéad McClean, Judy Price, Stephen Connolly, Sasha Litvintseva, a performance by Hannah Catherine Jones (aka Foxy Moron), and films by Ben Balcom, Hannah Black, Wu Tsang, Sky Hopinka and Neïl Beloufa.
Object! On the Documentary as Art aims to reframe the meeting point of films, makers and audiences in ethical terms. In light of the ongoing proliferation of documentary material in artistic production – the so-called ‘documentary turn’– and the exchange of these works in the marketplace as art objects, what are the ethical and political implications of this ‘object turn’ in documentary film? What novel avenues does it open up for critical practice?
The day of presentations includes screenings of artists’ films and documentaries, and is complemented by a series of evening programmes at Close Up Film Centre from February 7th, 2017.
Produced in collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery, the event is organised by Minou Norouzi, Mihaela Brebenel and Nikolaus Perneczky, with support from Openvizor and the Arts Council England.
Details of the Close-Up film programmes, presentations and symposium content are available here. Booking is essential.
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Object! On the Documentary as Art - Session 1
Saturday 4 February 2017, 11:30am
Whitechapel Gallery
Symposium presentations: Erika Balsom, Rosalind Nashashibi, Mairéad McClean
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Object! On the Documentary as Art - Session 2
Saturday 4 February 2017, 2:00pm
Whitechapel Gallery
Film programme, performance by Hannah C. Jones + discussion with Shela Sheikh
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Object! On the Documentary as Art - Session 3
Saturday 4 February 2017, 4:00pm
Whitechapel Gallery
Symposium presentations: Judy Price, Sasha Litvintseva, and Stephen Connolly
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Mairéad McClean: Rerecorded Pasts
Tuesday 7 February 2017, 7:30pm
Close-Up Film Centre
Film programme + McClean in conversation with art critic Declan Long
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Rosalind Nashashibi: FILMN YOUR LIFE WITH FASHION
Thursday 9 February 2017, 7:30pm
Close-Up Film Centre
16mm film screening, and conversation with Rosalind Nashashibi and Dan Kidner
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Concrete Futures
Wednesday 8 March 2017, 12:19am
Close-Up Film Centre
Film programme + Artists' talk with Jasmina Cibic, Sebastian Brameshuber, Thomas Draschan and Mihaela Brebenel