Tele-Visions

The flickering of this mostly unknown, extensive and yet necessarily fragmentary archive mirrors the personalities, institutions, forms and debates of the musical avant-garde as well as the grand cultural, political and ideological currents of the second half of the 20th century. “Tele-Visions” takes a critical long-distance look at this (self-)representation of new music on TV, a mass medium that is itself historic and disappearing.

Which historical narratives do we encounter in this archive? Which perspectives arise from temporal distance, not least with regard to current questions concerning diversity, gender inequality, intersectionality, coloniality and white supremacy? How does the development of the musical avant-garde relate to the societal fault lines of recent history, from classicism, sexism and racism to epistemic and aesthetic exclusions? In what ways do these fault lines shape the field of contemporary music to this day? In other words, what is the history of the (musical) present?

A film installation in the new Betonhalle of the silent green – open from 24th till 31st of March between 14:00 and 24:00 – is complemented by eight full-day film programs, selected by international scholars, artists and curators. Each of these programs casts its own lights onto the historical narratives of the musical avant-garde. Two movie nights, on the 25th and the 27th of March, with lectures, panels and presentations open up current perspectives on this still to be written media history of new music on television.

“Tele-Visions” is partly based on research conducted for a film program that was realized in 2009 as part of the festival Wien Modern under the artistic direction of Berno Odo Polzer and curated in collaboration with Andreas Lewin.