For Children: A video installation

The installation that arose out of this proposal was an attempt to challenge the conventions of academic conference proceedings and to offer an alternative way of engaging critically with the themes the conference sought to address. The work evolved into a two screen installation that comprised video imagery specifically generated for the piece. This content drew in particular ways on themes we perceived as linking Pasolini's and Fassbinder's films and philosophies. The theme of the 'second generation' underpinned the work - and in particular the relationship, as manifest within many examples of both filmmakers' films, between father and son. The installation, and its formulation, was therefore researching directly into aspects of these filmmakers works in relation to European history and politics. As such it was providing an original insight into the works studied via experimental visual means. The use of a visual medium allowed us to engage in research in a particularly visual way (as opposed to an illustrated paper) - reflecting visual analysis of the works studied through the visual content and treatment of our own constructed imagery. The installation created a dialogue between the two filmmakers works - one screen representing each, facing each other in a darkened space. The installation explored and responded to particular aesthetic and formal aspects, drawn from a key example of both filmmakers works. In this way, this installation allowed us to make an original and effective intervention whilst upholding a critical framework with relevant academic rigour. The installation was documented and visual reference to it is included, alongside our text, in the publication that resulted from the conference - as detailed above.