Video, Migration, and Heterotemporality
Tuesday, March 1, 4:30 PM; Adamson Wing (Baker Hall 136A)
Mieke Bal, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Professor, University of Amsterdam
While the moving image and migration were both phenomena of substantial currency and effect during the twentieth century, in the present moment, it appears that the visibility of video and migration is increasingly enhanced based respectively on the sheer volume and variety of populations on the move, and the pyramiding appeal and accessibility of video. In this lecture, I probe how video art can contribute to a better understanding of migratory culture through an analysis of a few video works relating to it. This approach primarily concerns the experience of time. Conversely, I will argue that migratory culture helps us to engage with video art on a different, more socially engaged level than might be obvious, also, particularly, in terms of temporality. I proceed in this oblique and dialogic manner because video, as an artistic medium can, arguably, provide an experiential understanding of what such a multitemporality means. The phenomenon itself I refer to as multi-temporality; the experience of it, heterochrony.