Returning to Berlin: A symposium, publication and exhibition on repetition and photography
@ Motto Berlin, August 11, 2013, 3-6 PM
We are pleased to announce that RETURNING TO BERLIN, a symposium on repetition and photography, is happening Sunday, August 11, 2013. Hosted by MOTTO Berlin, the event will take place in the courtyard, beginning at 3 p.m. Becky Beasley, Leslie Dick, Ulrich Gebert, Vanessa Place, Kim Schoen, Olivier Richon, Olga Fernandez Lopez and Duncan Wooldridge will be speaking. There will be a short intermission of 30 minutes and the event will end at 6, drinks to follow. Surrounding the talks in the vitrines at Motto there will be an exhibition of photographs by Becky Beasley, Zoe Crosher, Ulrich Gebert, Christian Hagemann, Rosalind Nashashibi, Olivier Richon, Kim Schoen, and Duncan Wooldridge.
The title of this symposium and publication comes from a venture in ‘experimental psychology’ that Kierkegaard undertakes in his book Repetition. He writes: “You can, after all, take a trip to Berlin; you have been there once before, and now you can prove to yourself whether a repetition is possible and what importance it has.” He embarks on this repeat trip to Berlin, somewhat absurdly, as a foil to start to question repetition as a concept.
This performed ‘return’ is the subject of the day—the return in relation to photography. What does it mean to have ‘seen it before?’ The nostalgic qualities of photography always seem to position the photograph as an aide de memoir, the ultimate ‘recollection.’ And photography as a medium itself embodies repetition. But Kierkegaard asserts that genuine repetition is recollected forward, the opposite in movement to recollection, which is remembering backwards. What might photography’s function be if not for recollection? Can there be a different, as Gertrude Stein might say, insistence for a photograph? The participants will bring forth the dislocations, problems, and pleasures that repetition can perform.
We are also pleased to announce a Limited Edition Box Set of Photographs in conjunction with this symposium. There are five box-sets available with eight 8×10 prints from Becky Beasley, Zoe Crosher, Ulrich Gebert, Christian Hagemann, Rosalind Nashashibi, Olivier Richon, Kim Schoen, and Duncan Wooldridge.
http://www.materialpress.org/rtb/
