Content Description
Urban Research
The common image of urbanity stays within the traditional iconography, and encompasses an outdated model of “the city”. Mass media reproduce it and tourists (want to) affirm it on their “city tours” around the globe. In contrast, city centres and public spaces have lost their traditional function. Even efforts of urban renewal of centres – conceptually not much different to the “City Beautiful” movement at the end of the 19th century – do not help to conserve life of “old towns.” These efforts may even accelerate the described changes.
On the other hand in mass media, there is little depiction of the life, the architecture, of the beauty and the issues of the contemporary urban scapes. There is a lack of positive images of the contemporary city as it has grown until today. There even is the notion of the city being “unreadable” (T. Sieverts). The common terms are reflecting these negative views of the environment most people live in: “sprawl”, “edge city”, “in-between city” (Zwischenstadt), or “informal city”.
Many artists thus have taken up to newly explore and visually research the “unknown”, the “informal” city. There is exciting new work, which tries to create a different, a differentiated image of space, architecture and life within the contemporary city. Unlike modernist “city symphonies,” these new works are based on exploration, on research and on discourse. The artists often focus on particular aspects rather than trying to depict the city as a whole. Urban Research comprises experimental, documentary and animated works bringing together complementary views of urban life.
Urban Research 2008 will firstly be presented at the media art festival Directors Lounge in February 2008. So far, the selections of Urban Research have been widely shown in venues in London, Poznan, Dordrecht/Rotterdam, Freiburg, Essen and Berlin.
Links:
http://richfilm.de/DL2007/framesUrbanResearch.html
http://www.directorslounge.net
http://www.richfilm.de
Program
Late entries possible if you give notice before Dec. 18.
Program schedule will be announced beginning of February.