There is a space that exists between the narrative an image tells and the sensory effects it has on us that surpass that story. This is a space the French philosopher Jacques Rancière defined as the spectacle of the image, a force that beckons us to submit to its will - to free fall into the image.

Through a series of sculptural installations installed in the transmediale studio, Chloé Galibert-Laîné explores how the image constructs its spectacle in order to equip the spectator with new ways to resist and refuse its power. Treating the image as an artefact that’s been engineered by the filmmaker, Galibert-Laîné and Evans James place the image through a series of theoretical processes that seek to break it back down into its component parts. These processes ‘reverse-engineer’ the image to reveal its source of power, exposing the gaps in its construction that allow alternate readings and understandings to manifest (Zimmerman, 2019). This process of reverse engineering takes in four principles of material science, exploring how they might relate to the construction of the image: viscosity, abrasion, buoyancy and conductivity.

Free Falls into the Image was commissioned for transmediale 2021–22. With thanks for additional curatorial support from Rebecca Smith. The concept is inspired by the research and writing of Patricia R. Zimmerman, professor of Screen Studies in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA.

Zimmerman, Patricia R (2019), Documentary Across Platforms, Indiana University Press, Indiana USA

Chloé Galibert-Laîné is a French researcher and filmmaker, currently working as a post-doc at the Lucerne School of Art and Design in Switzerland. Her work takes different forms: texts, film, video installations and live performances, exploring the intersections between cinema and online media.

Ben Evans James is a filmmaker whose work engages with narratives that lie outside landscapes constructed by global capital. His latest feature film On A Clear Day You Can See The Revolution From Here premiered at Visions du Réel in 2020 (co dir). He is currently part of the curatorial team of transmediale 2021–22.