e-flux journal: The Wretched of the Screen

In Hito Steyerl's writings, we begin to see how the hopes and desires for coherent collective political projects, even if they have been displaced onto images and screens, it is precisely here that we must look frankly at the technology that seals them in. The Wretched of the Screen, a collection of Steyerl's landmark essays from recent years, steadily develops her unique politics of the image. Twisting the politics of representation around the representation of politics, these essays uncover a rich trove of information in the formal shifts and aberrant distortions of accelerated capitalism, of the art system as a vast mine of labor extraction and passionate commitment, of occupation and internship, of structural and literal violence, enchantment and fun, of hysterical, uncontrollable flight through the wreckage of postcolonial and modernist discourses and their unanticipated openings.

The e-flux journal series, edited by Julieta Aranda, Brian Kuan Wood, and Anton Vidokle, presents these essays as a testament to Steyerl's steadfast development of her politics of the image. Through her exploration of the ways in which images and screens have come to mediate our collective political aspirations, Steyerl reveals the underlying technologies that shape and constrain these aspirations.

In her essays, Steyerl deftly navigates the complex interplay between the politics of representation and the representation of politics. By uncovering the formal shifts and aberrant distortions within the accelerated capitalist system, she sheds light on the art world's role as a vast mine of labor extraction and passionate commitment, as well as the issues of occupation and internship, structural and literal violence, enchantment and fun.

Steyerl's writings also delve into the hysterical, uncontrollable flight through the wreckage of postcolonial and modernist discourses, revealing their unanticipated openings. This multifaceted approach allows her to grapple with the ways in which images and screens have come to shape and constrain our collective political projects.

The Wretched of the Screen, as a collection of Steyerl's landmark essays, stands as a testament to her unwavering commitment to understanding the complex relationship between technology, representation, and politics. Through her insightful and thought-provoking analyses, Steyerl challenges us to confront the realities of the digital age and to seek new ways of engaging with the political potential of images and screens.

product information: