Operative images are, according to filmmaker Harun Farocki, neither representational nor intended for aesthetic viewing, but part of technical operations. Although they are well-understood to constitute a crucial part of our visual culture, not only of military and industrial applications, the necessity and possibility to analyze them is increasingly questioned due to their steady disappearance into algorithmic environments. The international workshop organized by the project »Medial Dispositives of Comparing: The Operative Image According to Harun Farocki« (SFB 1288 »Practices of Comparing«) explores the history and theory of operative images as in/visible operators from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Participants: Emma Charles, Tomáš Dvořák, Abelardo Gil-Fournier, Ute Holl, Volker Pantenburg, Jussi Parikka, Susan Schuppli, Bernhard Siegert, Pasi Väliaho, Moritz Wehrmann
Organized by: Helga Lutz, Eva-Maria Gillich, Daniel Eschkötter