Labour in a Single Shot. A project by Antje Ehmann and Harun Farocki
“Ў” gallery and the Goethe-Institut Minsk present in the framework of the festival “Artes Liberales”
Labour in a Single Shot. A project by Antje Ehmann and Harun Farocki
Opening: April 5, 2016 7pm
Curator: Lena Prents
“The first camera in the history of cinema was pointed at a factory […]” - once stated Harun Farocki, the great German filmmaker, referring to Lumière brothers’ documentary “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory” (1895). In his oeuvre Farocki also repeatedly addressed the topic of labour – its modification in contemporary societies as well as technologies of its representation. “Labour in a Single Shot” on view in the gallery “Ў” is his last long-term project. Together with the artist and curator Antje Ehmann, Farocki held filmmaking workshops in 15 cities all over the world. The participants of those workshops, mainly young filmmakers, made short films with an aim to express the essence of various kinds of labour today: material or immaterial, paid or unpaid, traditional or new. All of these videos are 1-2 minutes long, each taken in a single shot and form a kind of encylopedia of global labour processes.
The exhibition in the “Ў” gallery presents a selection of more than 60 films from eight different cities. These short films are installed in a way that gives an impression that “Labour in a Singlе Shot” is not a set of disparate videos, but rather a dense network where one film explains, supplements or comments the other.
Antje Ehmann is an artist, curator and writer living in Berlin.
Harun Farocki (1944-2014) was a filmmaker, artist and author. He realized more than 90 films that explored mechanisms of power and the potential of images. Farocki is considered one of the most important representatives of the documentary essays in cinema. Last year in Berlin the “Harun Farocki Institute” was founded. It aims to research the visual and discursive legacy of the artist, and to support new projects on a critical understanding of image cultures.
Events accompanying the exhibition “Labour in a Single Shot”, presented in the framework of the festival “Artes Liberales”:
April 6, 2016 7pm
Lecture by Antje Ehmann
“Labour in a Single Shot. How to tell a story in a single shot and how to make use of a maximum of 2 minutes?”
A lecture with film screenings and an artist talk in English with translation into Russian, moderated by Lena Prents.
April 7, 2016 7pm
Lecture by Joanna Sokołowska, curator at the Muzeum Sztuki in Łodz, Poland “Artistic practice as a medium of cognitive mapping and of composing chaos”
Joanna Sokołowska takes up Fredric Jameson’s idea of cognitive mapping in order to explore possibilities of curatorial and artistic practices in contemporary communities of the late capitalism.
A lecture and a discussion with the audience in English with translation into Russian, moderated by Lena Prents.
April 15, 2016 7pm
Film screening “Pirimze” by Sophia Tabatadze with a following artist talk via Skype (Germany/Georgia)
The film presents the story of the Tbilisi’s House of repair and maintenance services “Pirimze” from the first-person perspective. A six-floor edifice from the Soviet era is talking about itself – its unique architectural project and the idea of combining “good services” under one roof, about real estate speculations during the period of transformation in Georgia, and about unpredictable future of craftsmen.
Film screening in Georgian with Russian subtitles. Artist talk is moderated by Kiryl Kalbasnikau.
Entrance to all events is free.
“Labour in a Singlе Shot” and accompanying events are supported by the Goethe Institut Minsk and take place within the international festival “Artes Liberales”. Its focus in 2016 is “Poetics of Labour”.
