Room H.264

2018. Jeff Reichert (b. 1978, Northfield, New Jersey. Resides in Brooklyn), Damon Smith (b. 1968 in Houston, Texas, Eric Hynes (b. 1974, Staten Island, New York. Resides in Brooklyn). Video installation.

In his 1982 documentary Room 666, German director Wim Wenders asked the question “Is cinema a dead language, an art which is already in the process of decline?” to directors including Steven Spielberg, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean-Luc Godard, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and others.

Nearly 35 years later, the makers of Room H.264 interviewed filmmakers in a hotel room to answer the same question.

Combining their unedited responses with material from the original film, this installation explores how we make, view, and critically engage with movies. The interplay between monitors highlights issues that have arisen in the transition to a world of ubiquitous screens and interfaces, where choices about how to experience moving images are now integral to daily life. The piece creates a running dialogue between past and present notions of screen culture, and the state of the cinematic arts today.

Related

• Related Events (Jan 7 & 14): Room H.264