Abstract
Letter to Harun Farocki Joachim von Mengershausen, January 1976
WDR Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln Anstalt des Öffentlichen Rechts
Dear Harun,
Thank you for sending me this paper, for thinking of me in this context.
Your paper is instantly sympathetic to me, even if, as I have to admit, it first seemed to me like the idea for a film – a typical Harun idea, I thought to myself. Then I discovered something that I could take seriously in the sense that you intend.
First of all, such an institute as a production facility: I do not think much of that, at least not in the dimension that you have in mind. In such an institute, work could only be done very sporadically, due to the narrow economic basis which could at best be secured. Also, a half-forgotten thought as ‘Counter Intelligence’ (‘Gegenaufklärung’) would have to be reactivated. Trimmed academically however, as you do, this might have a chance.
Then what you write about the document value of films: As to your assessment of the usability of texts in contrast to film images, I substantially disagree with you. In my experience, texts are almost as ill-suited for direct use as images. Their value, unhinged from the context, lies in the information woven into it. The difficulty of using text or image material in a different context is simply due to the fact that they were shaped by a certain intention when they originated.
But as I thought about it, I came up with a simpler idea. In my opinion, there is a crucial difference between text and image, and that is in availability. In short: one should put a substantial effort into making the TV archives as public as public libraries, with all that this requires: adequate archiving and preservation, recording of origins and dates, etc. Hence, at least partially an expropriation of television, which should not be difficult to justify politically. I believe that if that were the initial goal of your institute, that would be something that many people, even those who do not have direct interests in filming, would understand.
I do not know what you think of it; but maybe you could discuss that with your friends.
Best regards,
Joachim
Footnotes