INDUSTRIAL Matinée - Cathleen Schuster and Marcel Dickhage (Berlin/Maastricht)

In this matinée, the artists Cathleen Schuster and Marcel Dickhage present and discuss their films, which revolve around the question how abstract concepts like capital or globalisation can be visualised.

Unfinished Business
2009
by Cathleen Schuster
Essay film, approx. 12 min.

Unfinished Business is an essay form film about the initial involvement of Germany in the nuclear program of Iran, and the construction of the first atomic power plant of Iran near the city Bushehr during the breakout of the Iranian Revolution. It is an appropriation of history to which we seem to have no relation. Today the media mostly reports about current events and excludes recent history. My film breaks with the business as usual in this matter. Drawing on personal connections to the subject matter (father was employed at that time as an engineer), this film tries to tell the story of this (in)complete construction in a different way. The photographic, film and text material for this film comes from the engineers who worked on the construction site between 1975-79.

Following the line of arguments
2010-11
by Cathleen Schuster & Marcel Dickhage
Installation contains:
– POI: projection, 4 min loop, colour, video installation with MDF wall and steel props
– Strada Fabricii: essay film, 6:30 min loop

The project focuses on impact of globalization and the flexibilization of the world of work. Our eye was hereby on a concrete example: the shifting of jobs by the company Nokia from North Rhine-Westphalian Bochum to the Transylvanian city Cluj. The shifting was announced by Nokia in early 2008. High wages and general high level of costs were cited as reasons. On Nokia's decision followed a strong reaction of workers, medias and politics, right up to a boycott of Nokia products by the german population. It was announced that the company had completed the 2007 fiscal year with record profits of 7.2 billion euros. The reactions did not influence the course of events. During a residency in Cluj, we were able to get in contact with the local situation. In conceptual analysis we draw closer to the topic within the medias of Photography, Video and Installation on the concept of flexibility. While working on the film Strada Fabricii, the closure of the factory in Cluj was announced. A new plant is planned in Hanoi.

Not a waste
2013
by Cathleen Schuster
Essay film, 10 min

Essay film based on a photographic archive of Cathleen Schusters father that documents the early times of Polymer recycling in India.

Layers
2013, in progress
by Cathleen Schuster & Marcel Dickhage
Film

A supposed conversation takes place in between some actors on stage. Statements on speculation by authors from the Middle Ages to Present join to a formless dialog. The original text fragments outline different attitudes and disciplines. The film consists of several layers of speach and commentary and a form of argumentation to which a technique called layering is a conceptual reference. Known as a manipulation technique in high-frequency trading, layering is an expression for a brokerage firm that makes and then cancels orders they never intended to carry out.

Money and trade considered
2013, in progress
by Cathleen Schuster & Marcel Dickhage
Video installation

Reenactment of a detail in the history of Finance with several actors and with stage elements builded out of wood and paper (Riso prints). Based on the person and writings by John Law and on (historical) representations of the Mississippi Bubble, we (reen-)act and film some sequences of the Mississippi Bubble (His-)Story while keeping it attached to current affairs.