2008: Harun Farocki (1944-2014), “‘Aufschub’ – Die Ikonographie von KZ-Bildern (Film und Vortrag)”/”‘Postponement’: The Iconography of Concentration Camp Images”

July 3, 2008

Harun Farocki (1944-2014), “‘Aufschub’ – Die Ikonographie von KZ-Bildern (Film und Vortrag)”/”‘Postponement’: The Iconography of Concentration Camp Images (Film and Lecture)”

Berlin Mosse Lecture
https://mosselectures.wisc.edu/berlin/

Thursday, 3 July 2008, 19:00 CET

Mosse Lectures poster for Humboldt University summer 2008 series

Hörsaal 1.101 of Humboldt University
Hegelplatz 2
10117 Berlin
GERMANY

Sponsored by:
The Mosse Foundation
Global Mosse Lecture Series
Daimler-Fonds im Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft
Preußische Seehandlung
Humboldt University
Humboldt University Institut für deutsche Literatur

Lecture Description: Der Essay filmer Harun Farocki stellt seinen Film »Aufschub« vor, in dem historische Aufnahmen aus dem Jahr 1944 zu sehen sind. Dieser Film ist »auf der ersten Ebene ein Dokument aus dem und über das Durchgangslager Westerbork in den Niederlanden. Auf einer zweiten Ebene aber, und zwar durch die Wiederholung von Aufnahmen und mit Hilfe von Zwischentiteln, reflektiert Farocki die Konnotationen von Bildern. Er diskutiert die Ikonografie der KZ-Bilder, die sich zum Kanon verfestigt haben und in unseren Köpfen zu Chiffren erstarrt sind. Farocki beharrt auf der Mehrdeutigkeit von Bildern, auf der Konkurrenz möglicher Lesarten, und verfolgt, indem er gegen obsolete Regeln der Pietät verstößt, ein aufklärerisches Ziel.« (Thomas Rothschild).

Lecture Series Description: Talk of Posthistoire or “post history” has itself become historic. Also the talk about an imperfect past seen as a promise for the future. Thinking about how something has turned out seems to be lost in the ubiquity of everyday opinions and emotions as well as in the boundless dynamic of digital memories. The past is made into a permanent virtual present, a “nostalgia for the present”, as Fredric Jameson puts it. Nonetheless everything past is fashionable: “la mode retro” as delight in the text of the past, in myriad formats and on all channels. These conditions provide an upswing for endless reviews in the media: retrospectives and revisions, the reshuffle of pasts under the reality of oblivion in today’s information society. Which new forms of repetition/re-recording, of re-writing, of staging and masquerading past knowledge are there, and how many can there be? How can the old data carriers book, library, card index and archive utilise their stored wisdom and the implied stability thereof for the (re-)generation of knowledge, perception and experience? How is the renewed fascination with the antiquated to be transferred into and applied as new methods and techniques for the adaptation of our established canon of values? What do we read in the sources, the testimonials and files to which a Franz Kafka had set to with libidinous fervor? What value has the temporalisation of the past under the auspices of deferred action, of the future perfect, the “there will have been”?

Wikimedia Commons
Herun Farocki
Harun Farocki (1944-2014) was a German author and filmmaker, known for his films about labor practices, politics, and images. From 1974-1984 he was the author and editor of the magazine Filmkritik. From 1993-1999 he served as Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and from 2004-2014 as Visiting Professor and then full Professor at the Academy of Art in Vienna. He created over 100 productions during his lifetime, including films, documentaries, and children's TV. Website: https://www.harunfarocki.de/home.html — **Harun Farocki** (1944-2014) was a German author and filmmaker, known for his films about labor practices, politics, and images. From 1974-1984 he was the author and editor of the magazine *Filmkritik*. From 1993-1999 he served as Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and from 2004-2014 as Visiting Professor and then full Professor at the Academy of Art in Vienna. He created over 100 productions during his lifetime, including films, documentaries, and children’s TV. Website: https://www.harunfarocki.de/home.html