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Retransmission

Retransmission
/6
    • Retransmission
    • Retransmisja
  • 1979-1983
  • video, b&w, sound, transferred from 16mm film
  • 14min, 54sec
“Retransmission” is a filmic work in which television programming is compressed—i.e., the broadcasts are sped up. It was realized as part of one of his largest projects, “Photovision,” a series in which the camera was pointed at a television screen with the artist selecting individual frames from the programs on TV. He stripped them of their original contexts and embedded them in a huge archive of similar shots comprising more than 5,000 photographs. The frames’ decontextualization allowed them to be treated as elements of language with which new sentences could be formed. These decontextualized images thus resemble messages from a culturally alien civilization. On the other hand, the scale of “Photovision” also makes this project a collection that provides a unique insight into the iconosphere of propaganda. “Retransmission” indicates how the entire project should be viewed as political. Rytka assembles footage of Solidarity alongside images from the era of martial law, when TV announcers were dressed in military uniforms. D.M.