ZKM Karlsruhe

Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War. In 1960, the UN became the stage for a political earthquake as the struggle for independence in the Congo put the world on high alert. The newly independent nation faced its first coup d'état, orchestrated by Western forces and Belgium, which were reluctant to relinquish control over their resource-rich former colony. The US tried to divert attention by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the African continent. In 1961, Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba was brutally assassinated, silencing a key voice in the fight against colonialism; his death was facilitated by Belgian and CIA operatives. Musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach took action, denouncing imperialism and structural racism. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev intensified his criticism of the US, highlighting the racial barriers that characterized American society.

These last major lectures by Hans Heinz Holz (1927–2011) follow his philosophical reflection from Parmenides to Karl Marx. They were recorded in October 2009 at his home in Sant’Abbondio, Switzerland.

While it was long thought that his filmography had concluded with the film Life in 1993, Peleshian has now returned with a new film, simply titled La Nature, through which he once again observes the delicate cohabitation of human communities with their environment. Gathered from the internet, most of the images that compose the film are fragile, amateur-shot traces from within nature and its tremors that regularly rock these communities. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis form the film’s visual fabric, and are set against images of grandiose natural landscapes. A visual elegy, the film resolutely acknowledges the superiority of nature, with its unrelenting force, capable of transcending all human ambition. With this, the filmmaker seems to remind us that humankind will not emerge victorious from the ecological havoc that it has created.

Vergessensfuge is a meditation on the psychology of obedience and submission, in this instance springing from a handful of photographs taken in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp immediately after its liberation in 1945. The images are of young women, aged 20 - 30, who were guards at the camp - to say, compliant, obedient Germans doing as they were told to do.

In the immediate aftermath of the 11 September Paul Virilio suffered from a malaise found very seldom among philosophers, which was caused by an excessive degree of confirmation on the part of reality. He broke off work on his book "L'accident Intégral" to put together an exhibition that was designed to illustrate the concept of the global accident in all its topicality. The outcome was the much-vaunted Ce qui arrive, which was housed in the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris from 29 November 2002 to 30 March 2003. The cinematic installation, Unknown Quantity, which was a key part of the exhibition, features the staging of a discussion between Paul Virilio and Svetlana Alexiyevich, the author of the book "Chernobyl. Chronicle of the Future", the essential witness's statement on the conversion of history in catastrophe.

To escape loneliness in her impassive life, Leni hacks into her neighbours’ computers and observes them in everyday lives. In this way she is searching for love in her own, reality-distant life, and in consequence she is caught in her digital sphere.

The third in a four-part video art series produced by duo Christiane Dellbrügge and Ralf de Moll in the early-'90s, this piece continues the series' themes of incorporating art theory into video art, particularly through the juxtaposition of words and images. Here, the duo record a performance by a singer dealing in the profound social and cultural effects that television has had on modern human life. Images of the musician - over-saturated and recorded at a lower frame rate but duped at normal speed - are only apparent when he is singing. Otherwise, the screen is black, with only the sound of his guitar.

A multimedia documentary that focuses on the day-to-day life of Molly, the protagonist of the story. She lives in Downtown Los Angeles, in the Bunker Hill area and witnesses the transformations of the place over the years. From Molly's story the project zooms out and excavates the history and legends about the area of Los Angeles, building on a rich collection of archival materials, interviews, and re-photography. Navigating through this database the viewer can trace the events, people and places Molly never noticed, engaging with the ethnically complex reality of the area and its fictionalization in countless Hollywood movies. Bleeding Through - Layers of Los Angeles is an allegory of the process in which memory emerges as a distorted hybrid produced by historic documents, personal recollection, and imagination.