There are a few achievements of our high-tech civilization that clearly stand out because life without them no longer seems conceivable, because they’ve become high-profile symbols of human progress, or because they’re now a part of our culture and our life that we take completely for granted. Several are now teetering on the brink of oblivion—they’re threatened with extinction, with becoming nothing more than cases of interest to historians and curators. Humankind’s incessant drive for development and innovation has not stopped short of annihilating even these icons.

The plastic bag, the TV picture tube, the internal combustion engine and the incandescent light bulb face an uncertain end. This cycle of projects commemorates them.

Ramin Bahrani (US), 2009
2.9. – 7.9.

In a not too distant future, a Plastic Bag goes on an epic journey in search of its lost maker, wondering if there is any point to life without her. The bag encounters strange creatures, brief love in the sky, a colony of prophetic torn bags on a fence and the unknown. In the end, the plastic bag wafts its way to the ocean, into the tides, and out into 500 nautical miles of spinning garbage known as the Pacific Ocean Trash Vortex – a promised nirvana where it will settle among its own kind and gradually let the memories of its maker slip away.

Credits:
Music by Kjartan Sveinsson of the band Sigur Rós
Voice by film director Werner Herzog

Werner Boote (AT), 2009

2.9. – 7.9.

“Plastic Planet – Once you have seen this film, you will never again drink from a plastic bottle.”

Plastic is cheap and practical. We are children of the Plastic Age. Plastics in the soil or water take up to 500 years to break down. The exotic additives they contain damage our endocrine system. Were you aware of the fact that you have plastic in your blood? Director Werner Boote’s investigative documentary film shows that plastic has become a global threat. He raises issues that every one of us has to confront: Why don’t we change our behavior as consumers? Why doesn’t the private sector react to the dangers? Who is responsible for the mountains of garbage in the world’s deserts and seas? Who are the winners here? And who are the losers?

This film can be purchased from September 2010 on.

http://www.plastic-planet.at

Credits
Drehkonzept: Werner Boote
Regie: Werner Boote
Kamera: Thomas Kirschner, Dominik Spritzendorfer
Schnitt: Ilana Goldschmidt, Cordula Werner, Tom Pohanka
Ton: Jens Ludwig, Erik Hoeman, Ekkehart Baumung
Musik: The Orb
Produzent: Thomas Bogner, Daniel Zuta
Produktionsleitung: Florian Brandt
Förderung: Filminstitut, Deutscher Filmförderfonds , Investitionsbank Hessen
Fernsehbeteiligung: ORF (Film/Fernseh-Abkommen)
Verleih: ThimFilm

2.9. – 7.9.

Film, 85min Documentary

For better and for worse, no ecosystem or segment of human activity has escaped the shrink-wrapped grasp of plastic. For more than 15 years, award-winning filmmaker Ian Connacher has been documenting solutions to environmental issues. His latest documentary is a global journey to investigate what we really know about the material of a thousand uses and why there’s so darn much of it. On the way we discover a toxic legacy, and the men and women dedicated to cleaning it up.

Credits:

Produced and Directed by Ian Connacher (CA)

Pictures – Cryptic Moth Productions Inc.

Music – Oliver Johnson – The Hive

Edited By Martyn Iannece, Gad Reichman, Kevin Rollins

2. 9. – 7. 9. Exhibition
3. 9. – 6. 9. 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 Performance

Japanese experimental artist Ei Wada breathes new life into old TV picture tubes. He utilizes their electromagnetic properties to transform light into sound and back again. When he touches the screens, this triggers a fascinating audio & video performance in which his hands and his whole body serve as pseudo-antennas. The old-fashioned picture tube TVs and a video recorder become percussion instruments, light synthesizer and VJ/DJ equipment all rolled into one. Thus, devices that have lost their original function can be used in a new way.

2.9. – 7.9.

Four internal combustion engines hang from the ceiling, awaiting their resuscitation. They’ll be fired up only once during the festival and join their voices in a droning, exhaust-belching song of lamentation. A reminiscence of “108 EB – Chamber Music for Four Motors and Service Personnel,” the legendary project with which Hubert Lepka and Lawine Torren created a sensation in 1989.

2. 9. – 7. 9.

The meditative glowing of the incandescent wire, pulsating, weak and reddish, before it reaches its maximum output giving off blazing bright light, uncertain as to whether it means the beginning or the end.