The panel analyzed the historical transformations of the western concept of the avant-garde from the perspectives of the histories of themes, affects, technologies, and economics. Alongside examining the terms and concepts of the historical avant-gardes, the panel focussed on the cultural and geo-political positioning of the various avant-garde movements. Where did and do comparable movements exist outside the canonized avant-gardes? How and where can post-avant-garde tendencies be developed today? For experimental film, the transformation in screening practice has always played a significant role in this question. Against the backdrop of newly developed distribution forms, we must ask where post-avant-garde movements can find a place to unfold their potential, to aspire to create or find their way, and what strategies for this can be discerned in the present.
Moderator:
Anselm Franke (curator, Berlin)
Panelists:
Laura Marks (film scholar, Simon Frasier University, Burnaby)
Ed Halter (curator, scholar, NYC)