The image, at least since the advent of television, has gained precedence over the written word in the flow of information. If there is no image, or no images are brought into circulation, then there is no meaning. Video-Theorie II illustrates this situation with a certain irony: a media-theoretical text by Dieter Daniels is fashioned visually in such a way that it becomes impossible to decode, even with the highest level of concentration. ML declares as obsolete the image of fame; only the possession of a phone-camera reproduction now has any meaning. What appears to be a peculiar practice of the digital age – images being paraded around like icons during demonstrations – is examined in Carrying Pictures. A different take on this, based on a magical worldview, is the burning of effigies; in Burning an Effigy of Myself, the artist symbolically sets herself alight. Birth of a Nation charts, in an allusion to Griffith, the reinvention of the Russian nation through the carefully staged training of young girls at a cadet school. The film All Restrictions End in turn portrays clothing as symbolic of Iranian politics.

Video-Theorie II, Dellbrügge & de Moll, de 1992, 6 min

ML, Nicolás Rupcich, ch 2011, 2 min
Carrying Pictures: A Case Study in Visual Politics, Tom Holert, de 2010, 11 min
Burning an Effigy of Myself, Susan Bowman, uk 2011, 2 min
Birth of a Nation, Daya Cahen, ru/nl 2010, 11 min

All Restrictions End, Reza Haeri, ir 2009, 30 min

(Image: © Nicolás Rupcich)