German Artist Hito Steyerl Takes U.S. Premiere ‘Factory of the Sun’ to MOCA

Sandra Miska

Hito Steyerl, a German visual artist, filmmaker and writer, is to have the U.S. premiere of her latest video installation right here in Los Angeles. The landmark video installation “Factory of the Sun” will be at the MOCA Grand Avenue beginning Feb. 21.

“Factory of the Sun,” an immersive work, debuted last year at the 2015 German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The film focuses on the global flow of data and features clips from a variety of genres including news, documentary film, video games and Internet dance videos. The video installation uses the motifs of light and acceleration to explore surveillance in today’s society.

“This video work tells the surreal story of workers whose forced moves in a motion capture studio are turned into artificial sunshine,” says the MOCA.

Steyerl, who was born in Munich, Germany, studied at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image and the University of Television and Film Munich. Having studied during the rise of New German Cinema in the 1980s, Steyerl cites the movement as being an influence on her own work. She is currently a Professor of New Media Art at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Other memorable films of Steyerl include “Free Fall,” which earned her the New: Vision Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival. In 2015, she won the inaugural EYE Prize for outstanding contributions in the field of visual art. Steyerl is also a contributor to multiple online art journals including e-flux.

Los Angelenos will have the opportunity to hear from the artist herself when “What is Contemporary? A Conversation with Hito Steyerl” takes place at the MOCA. With MOCA Assistant Lanka Tattersall, Steyerl will discuss the politics of the images in contemporary life and the role they play in her work, as well as capitalism, economics, government data surveillance, and digital images.

“What is Contemporary?” is a new MOCA series in which artists, scholars, critics and curators discuss what makes art contemporary.

“Hito Steyerl: Factory of the Sun” will be at the MOCA Grand Avenue Feb. 21 – Sept. 12.