Untitled Fragments

Forum Expanded 2017

The 3-channel video installation Untitled Fragments brings together four histories: the 1860s scorched earth policy of Kit Carson used to drive out the Navajos from their homeland in Canyon de Chelly, the 1967 execution of Che Guevara in Bolivia, the 1972 carpet bombing of Hanoi, and the 2016 Cedar Fire in the California Sierras. The radio transmission is from a US Air Force B-52 (Stratofortress Bomber, code name Lilac 02) recorded on the evening of December 26, 1972 during which 116 B-52s attacked Hanoi and Haiphong dropping all of their bombs within 15 minutes. The recording was declassified in 2016.
The installation is part of a larger project that further includes paintings, drawing, serigraphs, tapestries, film loops, and historical objects.

by James Benning USA 2017 English 75’ Colour

Crew

Director

James Benning

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James Benning

Born in 1942 in Milwaukee, USA. He completed a degree in film studies and has been making films and created numerous installations since 1972. James Benning has been a frequent guest at the Forum and Forum Expanded since 1977, such as with 11 x 14 (1977).

Filmography (selection)

1972 Time & A Half; 17 min. 1975 The United States of America; 25 min. 1977 11 x 14; 83 min., Forum 1977, Forum 2018 · One Way Boogie Woogie; 60 min. 1979 Grand Opera. An Historical Romance; 90 min., Forum 1980 1985 O Panama; 28 min., Forum 1987 1986 Landscape Suicide; 95 min., Forum 1987 1997 Four Corners; 80 min., Forum 1998 1999 El Valley Centro; 90 min., Forum 2002 2000 Los; 90 min., Forum 2002 2002 Sogobi; 90 min., Forum 2002 2004 13 Lakes; 133 min., Forum 2005 · Ten Skies; 101 min., Forum 2005 2005 One Way Boogie Woogie/27 Years Later; 120 min., Forum 2006 2007 RR; 110 min., Forum 2008 2009 Ruhr; 121 min. 2010 John Krieg Exiting the Falk Corporation in 1971; 71 min. 2011 Faces; 135 min. · Milwaukee/Duisburg; Installation, Forum Expanded 2011 · Twenty Cigarettes; 99 min., Forum 2011 · Small Roads; 103 min. 2012 Nightfall; 98 min. · Stemple Pass; 121 min., Forum 2013 · Easy Rider; 95 min. · One Way Boogie Woogie 2012; 90 min. · BNSF; 194 min. 2014 Natural History; 77 min. · Farocki; 77 min. · Concord Woods; 121 min. 2015 American Dreams; 85 min. 2017 Untitled Fragments; 75 min. 2018 L. Cohen; 45 min., video installation, Forum Expanded 2018 2019 Maggie’s Farm; 84 min., Forum 2020 2022 United States of America

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2022