OP-FILM: AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF OPTICS
Filipa César & Louis Henderson
16 September – 12 November 2017
The lighthouse - invented with the purpose of shedding light into the dark unknown of the world - bears the wishes of a modernism obliged to enlightenment as no other structure: the superiority of reason and spirit over nature, the belief in technological progress as well as global commerce and expansionism, carried by the idea of colonialism, imperialism and Christian mission. Optical inventions like the Fresnel lens in 1822, which has been employed in lighthouses ever since, assisted sea travel and naval artillery to establish this new world order. Its function is now assumed by radar as well as sonar and satellite-controlled navigational systems. In their ‘Op-Film’ and the accompanying collection of material, Filipa César and Louis Henderson weave a cartographic and profoundly hybridized image-text fabric that examines how optical technologies convey ‘western’ notions of military and colonial developments and are conveyed by them in turn.
PROGRAMME
15 September 2017
Filipa César & Louis Henderson: Refracted Spaces
Screening Room
8 November 2017
Herta Wolf: Aimé Laussedats Métrophotographie. Zur Historiografie einer französischen Erfindung
PRESS MATERIAL
Funding and Support
Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen
Kulturamt der Stadt Köln
Deltax Wirtschafts- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH
Hotel Chelsea
Images
1 — Filipa César & Louis Henderson: Sunstone, 2017
2 — exhibition view
3-4 — Filipa César & Louis Henderson: Refracted Spaces, 2017
Photo: Simon Vogel
