Anja Dornieden

The three films you will see are shot-for-shot reproductions of the compilation film Instant Life (1981). Each film in Instant Life (1981) was a remake of an earlier film also called Instant Life (1941). The earlier Instant Life (1941) was a single film, not a compilation. In 2017, we decided to recreate Instant Life (1981). We did not attempt to recreate Instant Life (1941) because that Instant Life is lost. Instant Life (1941) was a silent film presented with live musical accompaniment. After the show, audience members received a printed riddle. Instant Life (1981) is a sound film. The riddle is part of the film. No answer to the riddle exists.

The aurochs were a breed of wild cattle indigenous to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Extinct since the early 17th century, these majestic, horned beasts have long held a mythological status, believed to embody supernatural powers. In the early 20th century, German scientists began a series of attempts to resurrect the species under the auspices of the Nazi regime; such experiments continue today in various forms. Berlin-based filmmakers Anja Dornieden and Juan David González Monroy use this history to fashion a poetic and deadpan 16mm work of fanciful nonfiction that calls attention to itself as a constructed version of a strange reality.

In the German Democratic Republic children played with dollhouses made to resemble the type of life they would one day grow up to have. Now many of these houses can be found for sale on eBay or in collectors’ hands. The dollhouses that survive do so as idealized images of a time and place that no longer exists. Through the words of their past and new owners, Eigenheim looks at the people and memories that once dwelled in these spaces to explore the remnants of a lost world.

A joke so poorly told and unfunny that the characters within the joke are forced to reveal their spirit through the process of their own destruction.

An instructional film detailing the manufacturing process of a whole new consumer product, as well as its many uses, applications, and social benefits.

A magical sacrifice of cats to the infernal spirits…

The three films you will see are shot-for-shot reproductions of the compilation film Instant Life (1981). Each film in Instant Life (1981) was a remake of an earlier film also called Instant Life (1941). The earlier Instant Life (1941) was a single film, not a compilation. In 2017, we decided to recreate Instant Life (1981). We did not attempt to recreate Instant Life (1941) because that Instant Life is lost. Instant Life (1941) was a silent film presented with live musical accompaniment. After the show, audience members received a printed riddle. Instant Life (1981) is a sound film. The riddle is part of the film. No answer to the riddle exists.

The aurochs were a breed of wild cattle indigenous to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Extinct since the early 17th century, these majestic, horned beasts have long held a mythological status, believed to embody supernatural powers. In the early 20th century, German scientists began a series of attempts to resurrect the species under the auspices of the Nazi regime; such experiments continue today in various forms. Berlin-based filmmakers Anja Dornieden and Juan David González Monroy use this history to fashion a poetic and deadpan 16mm work of fanciful nonfiction that calls attention to itself as a constructed version of a strange reality.

In the German Democratic Republic children played with dollhouses made to resemble the type of life they would one day grow up to have. Now many of these houses can be found for sale on eBay or in collectors’ hands. The dollhouses that survive do so as idealized images of a time and place that no longer exists. Through the words of their past and new owners, Eigenheim looks at the people and memories that once dwelled in these spaces to explore the remnants of a lost world.

A joke so poorly told and unfunny that the characters within the joke are forced to reveal their spirit through the process of their own destruction.

An instructional film detailing the manufacturing process of a whole new consumer product, as well as its many uses, applications, and social benefits.

A magical sacrifice of cats to the infernal spirits…

Swarm looks at contemporary attempts to use the behavior of honeybees to respond to the conditions of environmental collapse. The film explores the present state of the relationship between humans and bees and how it is changing through advances in ecology, robotics and artificial intelligence. Framed through the filmmakers’ own attempt at becoming amateur beekeepers, the film presents a comparative portrait of different initiatives that are trying to create new models for interacting with nature. Among these are a DIY beekeepers association, a biologist and swarm rescuer, a group of amateur entomologists tracking the decline in insect population, and the Artificial Life Lab in Graz, which has produced robotic bees and is developing an intelligent artificial beehive. Through these efforts, the film considers the ways in which, in the face of our current environmental predicament, developments in science and technology are redefining the role of humans within the natural world.

In 2020, the filmmakers set out to make a film titled Swarm. It was originally conceived as a documentary about honeybees and the use of technology to create cybernetically enhanced bio-hybrid superorganisms capable of surviving ecological collapse and climate devastation. The filmmakers did their best to make Swarm, but they did not succeed. What remains is their attempt. This film is called Life Is Life.

A film based on fragments of the story La Gente Perra by the Colombian writer Gomati D. Wahn (1923 -1993). The story, which takes place 3000 years in the future, tells of the character of The Admiral as he searches for the land of the Dog People and the riches that it hides. However, as is typical of Wahn’s style, the story is assembled out of altered existing texts, in this case, historic accounts of the conquest of what was once known as the New World.

Hypnotising slideshow of weathered images presents itself as a relic of an imposing event. A village's inhabitants flee into the darkness of a cave to refresh themselves with projected images. Ultimately, they will pay a high price for their wonderment.

Hypnotising slideshow of weathered images presents itself as a relic of an imposing event. A village's inhabitants flee into the darkness of a cave to refresh themselves with projected images. Ultimately, they will pay a high price for their wonderment.

Heliopolis Heliopolis was the name of a metropolitan simulacrum devised as a training tool for urban planning at the NoUn School of Architecture in Egypt in the 3rd century BC. Heliopolis Heliopolis was created by an insurgent priest (whose name has been lost) as a tool to train students in the design of a revolutionary city meant to surpass the ancient city of Heliopolis. This in spite of the fact that the priest and his students appear never to have visited Heliopolis and based their model exclusively on texts and secondhand knowledge. Eventually this became a source of pride within the school and descriptions of Heliopolis gained a fantastical nature, becoming both meticulously elaborate and wildly implausible. Heliopolis Heliopolis is a cinematic interpretation of the simulacrum and the hypnotic, trance-inducing ritual connected to its use.

“We present our existing attempts at creating a new insect cinema based on the theory of spirit anarchy put forth by Dagmara Král, creator of the first insect cinema. (Please keep in mind this cinema is not intended for human subjects. This presentation is meant to be solely illustrative. Any experiential effects are strictly peripheral.)” - OJOBOCA

A natural human is a polymorphous emulator. A natural human is always looking for new emulation challenges. A natural human is a hunter. A natural human is always hungry. All other creatures are prey. A natural human observes, emulates and becomes the other creature. In this manner, a natural human swallows the other creature’s power. I despise natural humans. I am an aping mutator. I will not be swallowed. I want others to see how they are being swallowed. Natural humans created me and I will do my best to destroy them. Yours truly, The aping mutator.

Early 1900s, Robert Musil invites Freud to summon the ghost of Franz Mesmer, discoverer of animal magnetism and forefather of hypnosis. Musil told Freud about a series of dreams, in which a talking flea foretold of impending catastrophes all over Europe, which he wanted to question Mesmer about. It is said that Mesmer obligingly appeared & spoke in a repetitive & oblique manner which was transcribed by Freud in several scraps of paper & hidden separately in a series of objects that would end up in the collections of three Viennese museums. Legend has it that he who could piece together the text would find instructions for the assembly of a film. We visited these museums &, unable to break away the objects from their glass prisons, have made an attempt to reconstruct the film, hoping that the magnetic force inside the objects would transfer to the film’s silver halide crystals, therefore allowing us to make sense of the single written testimony leftover from the séance.

In the summer of 2009, a new theme park was inaugurated in China. It was called „The Kingdom of the Dwarves“. From all over China recruits were brought in to live in the park and entertain its visitors. There were only two stipulated requirements for employment: the performers had to be between 18 and 40 years old and be shorter than 130 cm. Twice a day they take the stage singing and dancing for the paying crowd. “A flea’s skin would be too big for you” was an epigram used by the Romans to address a dwarf, at the period of the decadence.

“Using 16mm film, we attempted to produce a perfectly satisfying shot: the destruction of a dessert in reverse motion. Despite numerous attempts we were left ungratified. Consequently, we sent a different iteration of the shot to 20 film experts, asking each one for their expert analysis. This is one of the shots accompanied by an analysis written by Phil Coldiron. The analysis will be read aloud prior to the screening.”

An abridged history of motion pictures: In 1888 George Eastman registered the made up word “Kodak” as a trademark. In 1894 Jean Aimé “Acme” Le Roy presented the first film screening in New York City. In 1895 Auguste and Louis Lumière filmed workers leaving their factory in Lyon. In 1903 Thomas Alva Edison orchestrated and captured on film the electrocution of an elephant in Coney Island. In 2011 Anja Dornieden and Juan David González Monroy filmed dwarfs dancing on a stage at an amusement park in China. In 2012 Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy.

Comfort Stations consists of a found set of images and sounds with an instruction text making up some sort of psychological test. Participants should open themselves to experiencing the events with all of their senses. Feel free to participate but please remember to treat these experiences with caution.

The masked arts of Indonesia are thousands of years old. They are commonly referred to as wayang topeng (wayang: shadow or puppet; topeng: mask). It is believed that wayang topeng originated from tribal death rites, where masked dancers were considered the interpreters of the gods. In the lowest rungs of Javanese society a unique manifestation of these masked traditions can be found. Its practitioners are performers, but they are not merely entertainers. Their aim is not simply to amuse. Their ambition is to be respected, to be honoured, to be successful. They have embarked on a path they know will lead to a higher state, to an honourable and noble position.

A performance about the need to protect oneself from the numerous crises of everyday life—an onslaught matched by the duelling projectors.

Two 16mm projectors modified to run at about 8 frames per second, and a handmade contact printer to makes copies of the films in the Basement Films collection. Overwhelmed by the sheer size of the collection (over 4,000 film prints), the artists decided to focus on a single shot from one of the films and copy it over and over using a contact printer. Inspired by the New Mexican landscape, and its end-of-days feel.

The skin fiend is a stranger. He sent us strange messages (and a package)... We made this film for you, skin fiend. What do you think?

a film by OJOBOCA

Live performance with 16mm projectors. This is a simulation of a prototype for a “feeling machine” envisioned by Dr. D. Forme in 1917. This simulation is based on a short description and diagram found in the doctor’s notebooks. The description focuses on only one section of the machine. Brief mentions of the other sections were included but no detailed information was discovered. The machine was never built, yet according to the description its purpose was “to replace the faulty mechanism of human emotion”.

Experimental short film by Anja Dornieden.

Live performance with 16mm projectors (a traumatoscopic presentation). In the museum a world of possibilities presents itself to the open and focused mind. An immense number of scenes can be created to appease even the wildest of imaginations. With the help of the Traumatoscope the following test will guide you through the most common scenarios you will encounter and give you the tools you will need to persevere in your mission to create a new museum of mankind.