John Miller. Contradicting Statements

Zusatztext

This publication documents John Miller's early video work Contradicting Statements from 1977. The video shows language as something unstable, whose meaning cannot be fixed. This early exploration of linguistic and communicative structures points to central themes in John Miller's later work, in which everyday situations and cultural systems are examined for their implicit rules and power relations. Miller writes about this work: "The imperative to contradict creates an absurd void at its center. As though a function of a miniature neural network, the cast behaves as quasi-automatons. Control is modulated, not absolute. The performers laugh at their instrumentalization, mocking the rules they inevitably obey. [] Perhaps, as we enter a new era of overarching artificial intelligence, Contradicting Statements might offer a glimpse into a fragile past, still alive with paths not taken.

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