1 “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.” 2 3 On his way to the store Gauri Banerjee, 64 years old and blind, knocked his head against a door and could see again after 20 years. But in the same moment he lost his hearing. Wolverhampton Express & Star (17 May 1995). 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hugh Williams was the only survivor of a vessel that sank in the Straits of Dover on 5 December 1660. One hundred and twenty-one years later to the day, another shipping disaster in the same waters claimed the lives of all on board, except a man with the seemingly charmed name of Hugh Williams. On 5 August 1820, when a picnic boat capsized on the Thames, all drowned with the exception of a five-year-old boy—Hugh Williams. Again about one hundred and twenty years later, on 10 July 1940, a British trawler was destroyed by a German mine. Only two men survived, an uncle and nephew, both named Hugh Williams. Plimmer, M. & King, B., Beyond Coincidence: Amazing Stories of Conincidence and the Mystery Behind Them (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007), 192. 12 13 Subject: killed by book On 10 Mar 2007, at 1:33 PM, Tom McCarthy wrote: Date: Monday, March 12, 2007 12:19 PM From: Tom McCarthy How bizarre, given that I’d just written to you about your “encyclopaedic” knowledge of Hitchcock in relation to his mother’s death. How did it happen? “Absalom, Absalom!” Is such a good book to die with—or rather break a leg. In fact, “As I Lay Dying” would be better, since someone breaks Tom x the same leg twice in that book. Hope you like the second draft. On 10 Mar 2007, at 1:28 PM, Johan Grimonprez wrote: Let’s talk about film more soon. I have ideas… Hey Tom, Tom x Just got back from london, Nearly killed by an encyclopedia, what a sentence----- Just to confirm I got your text, Will look at it tomorrow as soon as I have some time. On 11 Mar 2007, at 9:55 AM, Johan Grimonprez wrote: Warmest, Johan I survived! Unlike Bluma Lennon, who one day in the spring of 1998 bought a secondhand copy of Emily Dickenson’s poems in Soho, and as she reached the second poem on the first street corner, she was knocked down by a car—Imagine killed by a second hand On 9 Mar 2007, at 4:06 PM, Tom McCarthy wrote: book, of all murder weapons. —Books change people’s destinies,— Carlos Dominguez, mentions in “La casa de papel” the story of an Hi Guys, elderly professor of classical languages, Leonard Wood, whho was left paralysed after being struck on the head by five volumes of the Here’s the new draft. It’s gone up a little in length to incorporate an ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA that fell from a shelf in his library; expansion of the question of what’s in the kitchen closet, as discussed and his friend Richard broke a leg when he tried to reach William by me and Johan two weeks ago in Paris. Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!”, which was so awkwardly placed he fell off his stepladder, and—funny—he even tells a story about a dog I’ve moved it to the studio (in Los Angeles, right?). Also to 68, so the that died from indigestion from swallowing the pages of “the brothers logo is “flying great in 68!” Karamzow” one afternoon when rage got the better of him— The only thing I’ve guessed at is the mother’s death date, which I’m about to read the new version of NEGATIVE REEL in a minute, on I’ve called ’38. Frankly, if Johan, whose knowledge of Hitchcock is the train to paris, encyclopaedic, can’t find the real date out, then neither will anyone Hope I don’t get killed now!!! else be able to fault it. Now Alfred’s chasing down her birth certificate, Johan retrospectively. I hope it works. Let me know what you think. Tom x 14 15 “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.” 16 17 With contributions by Herman Asselberghs Catherine Bernard Jorge Luis Borges Chris Darke Jodi Dean Thomas Elsaesser Johan Grimonprez Asad Ismi Alvin Lu Tom McCarthy Florence Montagnon Dany Nobus Hans Ulrich Obrist Vrääth Öhner Mark Peranson Alexander Provan John Rumbiak Simon Taylor Eben Wood Slavoj Žižek 18 19 Contents Preface 23 PA R T I Maybe the Sky is Really Green, and We’re Just Colourblind “Maybe the Sky is Really Green, and We’re Just Colourblind”: On Zapping, Close Encounters and the Commercial Break Johan Grimonprez 33 PA R T I I Double Take Borges’ and Hitchcock’s Double Desire Dany Nobus 61 Double Take Narration of the Film by Tom McCarthy 73 The Real Double Jodi Dean 85 It's a Poor Story if it Only Works Backwards Catherine Bernard in dialogue with Johan Grimonprez 107 20 Contents Contents 21 Philosophy, the “Unknown Knowns”, and the Public Use On Seeing, Flying and Dreaming of Reason Vrääth Öhner 237 Slavoj Žižek 121 Grimonprez’s Remix If You See Yourself, Kill Him Eben Wood 247 An interview with Johan Grimonprez and Tom McCarthy by Alexander Provan 123 Email Interview with Johan Grimonprez Hans Ulrich Obrist 267 Parable of the Palace Jorge Luis Borges 137 Reality Mistaken for a Commercial Break An interview with Johan Grimonprez If You Meet Your Double, You Should Kill Him by Florence Montagnon 273 Johan Grimonprez on Double Take by Mark Peranson 139 “Casting Around”: Hitchcock’s Absence Thomas Elsaesser 151 PA R T I V Hitchcock is Not Himself Today… Kobarweng or Where is Your Helicopter? An interview with Johan Grimonprez by Chris Darke 173 Kobarweng or Where is Your Helicopter? Johan Grimonprez 283 PA R T I I I Kobarweng or Where is Your Helicopter? Script Johan Grimonprez 289 dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y The “Exotic” is Uncannily Close Mind Terrorist Simon Taylor 303 Alvin Lu 195 West Papuans Oppressed by US Multinational Against Documentary An interview with John Rumbiak by Asad Ismi 319 Critical Art Ensemble 199 No Man’s Land: Politics in the Sky Filmography 328 Herman Asselberghs and Johan Grimonprez 203 Bibliography 331 Authors’ Biographies 340 Supermarket History Acknowledgements 342 An interview with Johan Grimonprez by Catherine Bernard 225 Colophon 343 22 23 Preface —“Where would a wise man hide a leaf?” —“In the forest.” —“But what does he do if there is no forest?” —“Well, well,” cried Flambeau irritably, “what does he do?” —“He grows a forest to hide it in.” Chesterton, G.K., “The Sign of the Broken Sword”, in The Innocence of Father Brown (1911). Walter Benjamin’s angel of history is standing ominously before us, open winged and gazing towards the past with a sense of dreadful premonition.1 Where we see a series of chains of events, the angel sees one single, all-encompassing catastrophe piling up at its feet. From “history”, the angel would like to pause for a mo- ment, awaken the dead and make sense of the wreckage. This is nearly impossible. Caught up in its wings, the storm of progress is blowing hard and sweeps the angel into an unremitting future. It is this storm, this sky-borne threat that runs deep within the work of Johan Grimonprez. Whether it be in Double Take (2009), dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (1997), Maybe the Sky is Really Green and We’re Just Colorblind (2005–11) or Kobarweng or Where is Your Helicopter? (1992)—the four works studied within this volume—the threat from above is an allegory exposing a disjointedness within our contemporary society. 1 Benjamin, W., Gesammelte Schriften I:2 (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1974). 24 Preface Preface 25 Maybe the Sky is Really Green and We’re Just Colorblind, an ongoing the doubling effect of cinema and television, and by extension curated video-library / vlogging installation, may be most useful- that of capitalism and communism, commercials and war- ly conceived as Grimonprez’s artistic sketchbook. Representing fare, such a diplopia creates a parallax that irrevocably fissures his media archaeology practice whereby image associations are what is normally taken to be “real”. Alluding to the “unknown dealt with and re-contextualized in very personal ways, it is a knowns”, it forces “reality” itself to be held up to scrutiny.3 tool that allows him to explore and elaborate on new themes and It is this concern that formed the impetus behind the sym- itineraries. As such, it is fundamental in understanding the tra- posium Shot by Both Sides!4 Deriving its name from falling be- jectory taken to realize his three major works. tween the worlds of film and fine art, art practice and theory, its Grimonprez’s earliest work, Kobarweng or Where is Your Heli- aims were to challenge an audience’s paradigms of perception. copter?, explores the confrontation, both physical and epistemo- Pertinently, it also acted as the catalyst for this book. Published logical, of the first encounter between westerners and highland by The Fruitmarket Gallery, Blaffer Art Museum, S.M.A.K. villagers of New Guinea. Played out through the image of the (Museum of Contemporary Art Ghent), Artist ROOMS, Tate, airplane, it is a deconstruction of anthropological discourse, one National Galleries of Scotland, Beeldende Kunst Strombeek / framed within a global power struggle premised on the notion of Mechelen, Faculty of Fine Arts, University College of Ghent, “the Other”.