The Speculative Archive
Posted by | Conversations at the Edge | Posted on | November 11, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007, 6pm | Julia Meltzer and David Thorne in person!
- Speculative Archive, We Will Live To See These Things… (2007). Image courtesy of the artists.
The effects of state secrets and political uncertainty are at the center of LA-based artist-duo The Speculative Archive’s (Julia Meltzer and David Thorne) work. The two create electrifyingly smart and poetic videos about the ways governments “revision” history and the ways that history shapes our present-day lives and hopes for the future. Shot in Syria, their latest work explores the way everyday people imagine their future while their nation struggles between the forces of a repressive regime, a growing conservative Islamic movement, and mounting pressures from the United States. In Not a matter of if but when… (2006), Syrian performer Rami Farah allegorizes the complications, frustrations, and heartache of the Middle East’s current state-of-affairs through a series of extraordinary vignettes. The prize-winning We will live to see these things, or, five pictures of what may come to pass (2007) pieces together five competing visions of Syria’s future to create a compelling portrait of Syria today. Co-presented by the Video Data Bank. 2006–2007, Julia Meltzer and David Thorne, Syria/USA, ca. 70 min, video.
Tags: Middle East > Monographic Shows > Political > USA > Video Data Bank
About
Conversations at the Edge is a weekly series of screenings, performances, and talks by groundbreaking media artists.
CATE is organized by SAIC's Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation in collaboration with the Gene Siskel Film Center and SAIC's Video Data Bank.
Programs take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State / Chicago, IL / 312.846.2600), unless otherwise noted.
