Bouchra Khalili. In Girum

About

With her work In Girum, designed for the facade of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Bouchra Khalili makes reference to the n.b.k. Video-Forum, the oldest and one of the largest video art collections in Germany. Khalili is particularly interested in the political and emancipatory potential of the medium. Since the introduction of the portable video camera in the 1960s, films can be produced autonomously and affordably. Using phosphorescent letters, Khalili quotes the title of a 35-mm film by Guy Debord from 1978: In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni; English: “We wander in circles at night and are consumed by fire.” With the film’s title, which goes back to a palindrome attributed to Virgil, Khalili refers to the political concept of the Situationist International masterminded by Debord, and his technique of dérive – an experimental exploration of the environment through aimless wandering. With this quote, Khalili encourages us to reflect on consumer society and capitalist alienation, while bringing interaction with the urban space into focus and alluding to the critical potential of the moving image.