Article by Sofia Bergmann // Dec. 07, 2018
On its tenth anniversary this December 14th, Videoart at Midnight (VAM) will also hold its 100th screening. While the VAM festival – made up of symposiums, exhibitions and events – began on November 6th, the opening of its 100th screening by Ed Atkins will mark the beginning of the project ‘100 Artists – 100 Films.’ VAM is an ongoing project in which one artist is selected to screen their works on one Friday every month, with the upcoming festival being a celebration of their previously screened artists, as well as video art as a genre in itself.
On December 15th and 16th, ‘100 Artists – 100 Films’ is showcasing all the artists who have been featured by VAM over the years. On the days preceding, VAM will host an international symposium beginning December 12th, entitled: ‘Future Continues Present(s) – “Video Art” Through Time,’ at Hamburger Bahnhof, where discussions on media archaeology, and characteristics of video art and its future, will take place.
Ed Atkins: ‘Safe Conduct,’ Production Still // Courtesy of the artist
Among the many screenings leading up to the 100th, ‘Son of a Which’ by Raphaela Vogel will open at Berlinische Galerie on November 29th, showing her satirical and post-apocalyptic video sculptures relating to gender and femininity. Through high-voltage insulators, projection technology and camera drones, her eerie works create a world in which everything is deconstructed, twisted and reimagined.
For his contribution as the 100th screening, Ed Atkins compiles a collection of his works from the past decade, which will consist of a mixture of hyper-artificial computer animation, performance capture, stock assemblage and emo-musical theatre. He has recently exhibited his works in Gropius Bau and Berliner Festspiele, and his screening on December 14th will also be imbedded with some of his unseen works and teasers, along with a live performance by Atkins himself.
‘100 Artists – 100 Films’ screens video works at Babylon Cinema in a deliberate non-exhibition context, so viewers can absorb the art in its entirety. Since 2008, the festival has developed into a prestigious platform for video art, with VAM’s 2018 program honoring the genre’s multi-dimensional complexity in its 10th year of existence.
Festival Info
VIDEOART AT MIDNIGHT
Festival: Nov. 06, 2018–Mar. 11, 2019
Symposium: Dec. 12–14, 2018
#100 by Ed Atkins: Friday, Dec. 14; 10pm–1am
‘100 Artists – 100 Films’: Dec. 15–16; 12pm–midnight
Kino Babylon, Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 30, 10178 Berlin, click here for map
