Discussion Questions

2014 - Film & Video (Film & Video)

Jonn Herschend


Jonn Herschend’s short film Discussion Questions subverts the familiar motifs of contemporary media-based pedagogy through a playful intervention that invites more engaged and active viewership. Commissioned for the 2014 Whitney Biennial, the film is a text-based PowerPoint presentation that becomes a cathartic dance party. Originally screened as part of an extended program with other video works at the Biennial, Discussion Questions is initially presented as a set of questions designed to inspire audience conversation around these films. The rudimentary black and white text breaks down familiar narrative devices such as plot and setting, providing all-too-banal “instruction” on the rudiments of film analysis. The presentation, however, begins to drift off topic, morphing into its own film as the unreliable “narrator” of the presentation works through his delusional romantic issues with a co-worker at the university where he works. Suddenly, a disco beat soundtrack by Silas Hite begins to play, the screen flashing as if it were a strobe light. Hypnotized by the beat and turning of each new sentence, the viewer finds themselves in a dance party, as this sonnet spirals out of the narrator’s control. In reimaging the space of the museum/screening room/lecture hall as a makeshift dance party, Herschend not only satirizes the dry lecture style of academia: he also stakes out a place for a mode of artistic production that actively engages viewers by encouraging them to get out of their seats and onto their feet.


Jonn Herschend is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker and experimental publisher whose work explores fiction, reality and the narrative structures that we employ as a way to explain the chaos and clutter of our everyday lives. His videos, performances, installations, and photos all incorporate sterile and formally recognizable structures such as PowerPoint presentations, academic lectures, photographic evidence, infomercials, gallery exhibitions, or educational videos. He uses these structures as a means to investigate the issues of truth and confusion, and allows the messiness of reality to eventually collapse the whole piece. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Telluride Film Festival; SITE Santa Fe; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He is also the co-founder and co-editor, along with Will Rogan, of the experimental publication THE THING Quarterly.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

ALICEGAVINSERVICES™
© » SLASH PARIS

ALICEGAVINSERVICES™ — La MABA — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook ALICEGAVINSERVICES™ — La MABA — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour ALICEGAVINSERVICES™ Exposition Design, graphisme, techniques mixtes Derniers Jours Alice Gavin, ALICEGAVINSERVICES™, sans titre Crédit photo : Léonard Méchineau ALICEGAVINSERVICES™ Encore 6 jours : 14 septembre → 17 décembre 2023 Cet automne, dans le cadre de sa saison dédiée au design graphique, la MABA présente, du 14 septembre au 17 décembre, une exposition consacrée à ALICEGAVINSERVICES™...

Ghost games
© » KADIST

Anri Sala

2002

Ghost Games , follows the enigmatic dance of crabs “steered” by a flashlight in the night of darkness of a South American beach...

Retired pilar
© » KADIST

Jin Shan

2010

Retired Pillar represents the death and deterioration of legacy of colonial Shanghai...

Ammo Bunker
© » KADIST

Mario Ybarra Jr.

2009

Ammo Bunker (2009) is a multipart installation that includes large-scale wall prints and an architectural model...

Marlon Riggs Screening
© » KADIST

Screening at 5pm at Little Roxie In connection to his exhibition, Evidence of Things Not Seen at KADIST , photo-conceptual artist, Hank Willis Thomas selected these films as a homage to innovative and influential creators in the medium of film whose work supports social justice as well as explores contemporary notions of identity, race, history and a national legacy of resistance...

Edgar Orlaineta Part 1
© » KADIST

Introducing his exhibition ‘La Historia, Ella Misma y Yo’ (History, Itself and I) at El Chopo Museum, Mexico City, Edgar Orlaineta discusses history of industrial design, primitivism, ecology, and the role of symbols in popular culture...

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Is film programming underrated?; Ramayana x SEA
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Is film programming underrated?; Ramayana x SEA | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar Jamie James for Hyperallergic October 10, 2019 ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region...

Year-end SIFA Spotlight: 5 things you should catch
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Year-end SIFA Spotlight: 5 things you should catch | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Image: Maria Baranova October 16, 2020 The unabashedly virtual edition of SIFA just launched its slate of year-end programmes, marked by dreamy and lush audioscapes, compelling narratives, and encounters with the audience in places both personal and private...

Some Time Waiting
© » KADIST

Some Time Waiting With: Olivier Babin, Robert Barry, Johanna Billing, Pierre Bismuth, Marcelline Delbecq, Jason Dodge, Ryan Gander, Isabell Heimerdinger, Jiri Kovanda, David Lamelas, Kris Martin, Jonathan Monk, Dominique Petitgand, Dan Rees, Mungo Thomson, Mario Garcia Torres, Elin Wikström, Jordan Wolfson...

Book List on Post-Colonial Theory from the C& Library
© » CONTEMPORARYAND

Book List on Post-Colonial Theory from the C& Library | Contemporary And search for something search C& AMÉRICA LATINA EN FR MEMBERSHIP EN FR Editorial All Editorial Features Installation Views Inside the Library Interviews News Opinions Events All Events Art Fairs Conferences Exhibitions Festivals Performances Screenings Talks / Workshops C& Projects C& Artists’ Editions C& Commissions C& Center of Unfinished Business Show me your shelves! C& Education Mentoring Program Critical Writing Workshops Lectures / Seminars Membership Opportunities Print C& Audio Archive On Tour Places Explore IN CONVERSATION INSTALLATION VIEW WE GOT ISSUES DETOX LABORATORY OF SOLIDARITY CONSCIOUS CODES CURRICULUM OF CONNECTIONS LOVE ACTUALLY OVER THE RADAR BLACK CULTURES MATTER INSIDE THE LIBRARY LOOKING BACK Follow About Contact Newsletter Advertise Imprint Data protection Membership Contemporary And (C&) is funded by: Editorial All Editorial Features Installation Views Inside the Library Interviews News Opinions Events All Events Art Fairs Conferences Exhibitions Festivals Performances Screenings Talks / Workshops C& Projects C& Artists’ Editions C& Commissions C& Center of Unfinished Business Show me your shelves! C& Education Mentoring Program Critical Writing Workshops Lectures / Seminars Membership Opportunities Print C& Audio Archive On Tour Places Explore IN CONVERSATION INSTALLATION VIEW WE GOT ISSUES DETOX LABORATORY OF SOLIDARITY CONSCIOUS CODES CURRICULUM OF CONNECTIONS LOVE ACTUALLY OVER THE RADAR BLACK CULTURES MATTER INSIDE THE LIBRARY LOOKING BACK GO TO C& AMÉRICA LATINA About Contact Newsletter Advertise Imprint Data protection Membership C& Center of Unfinished Business Book List on Post-Colonial Theory from the C& Library Our library offers a wide selection of books that are connected to the topic of (post-)colonialism in various ways and help us to understand the now...

The best looks from Tokyo Fashion Week SS24
© » I-D STRAIGHT UP

The best looks from Tokyo Fashion Week SS24 advertisement...

Gwangju, South Korea: The Kyoto School & Far East Network
© » KADIST

Co-hosted with the Gwangju Biennale, The Kyoto School and Far East Network mark the launch of Frequency of Tradition , a three-year series of programs in Asia curated by Hyunjin Kim and initiated by KADIST...

Closing of If These Stones Could Sing and Falling Wall
© » KADIST

Finissage and a final performance by Public Movement Saturday, April 21 3–4:30pm, drinks and snacks will be served Join us on the last day of the exhibition, If These Stones Could Sing and for a final performance of Falling Wall by Public Movement...

Press Release: Art21 to Release Two New Films in October: “Paul Pfeiffer: Interrupting the Broadcast” and “Wong Ping: The Freedom of Animation”
© » ART21

Press Release: Art21 to Release Two New Films in October: “Paul Pfeiffer: Interrupting the Broadcast” and “Wong Ping: The Freedom of Animation”...

Profit, power and TV personalities: Photographing the community in conflict with Trump
© » 1854 PHOTOGRAPHY

Profit, power and TV personalities: Photographing the community in conflict with Trump - 1854 Photography Subscribe latest Agenda Bookshelf Projects Industry Insights magazine Explore ANY ANSWERS FINE ART IN THE STUDIO PARENTHOOD ART & ACTIVISM FOR THE RECORD LANDSCAPE PICTURE THIS CREATIVE BRIEF GENDER & SEXUALITY MIXED MEDIA POWER & EMPOWERMENT DOCUMENTARY HOME & BELONGING ON LOCATION PORTRAITURE DECADE OF CHANGE HUMANITY & TECHNOLOGY OPINION THEN & NOW Explore Stories latest agenda bookshelf projects theme in focus industry insights magazine ANY ANSWERS FINE ART IN THE STUDIO PARENTHOOD ART & ACTIVISM FOR THE RECORD LANDSCAPE PICTURE THIS CREATIVE BRIEF GENDER & SEXUALITY MIXED MEDIA POWER & EMPOWERMENT DOCUMENTARY HOME & BELONGING ON LOCATION PORTRAITURE DECADE OF CHANGE HUMANITY & TECHNOLOGY OPINION THEN & NOW Construction and damming of Blairton Burn causing course to collapse between third green and fourth tee; January 2013...

The Power of a Poem
© » ARTS EQUATOR

The Power of a Poem | ArtsEquator Skip to content Zakir Hossain, a celebrated poet and migrant worker in Singapore, wrote a poem, which sparked a response from the state...

Dialect
© » KADIST

Felipe Romero Beltrán

2022

Dialect by Felipe Romero Beltrán is a photographic series that follows a group of immigrants who have recently crossed the strait (the maritime border between Morocco and Spain) to avoid border controls...

Pratchaya Phinthong
© » KADIST

The work of Pratchaya Phinthong takes place in the experience of a displacement between two realities...