Hito Steyerl
Duty-Free Art
Regarded as one of the most relevant contemporary artists in the field of Video art, Hito Steyerl (Munich, 1966) approaches current themes in her work, for instance the impact the proliferation of images and the use of the Internet and technology have on our lives. She uses these issues as a starting point for developing, not just through her video pieces but also through writing and essays, critical work about control, surveillance and militarisation, migration, cultural globalisation, feminism and political imagery, questions she believes have the capacity to create realities.
Employing humour as a tool for creating video narrations, and in a style that at times touches upon the everyday, the work she constructs enables an in-depth analysis of the way the current consumption of images and new forms of accessing information condition communication channels.
The work of Hito Steyerl, one of the representatives of the German Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, has been exhibited at various collective shows, for instance Documenta 12, in Kassel (2007), and the 13 th Istanbul Biennial (2013). Recent solo exhibitions include the one held in the Chicago Art Institute in 2012 and those organised by the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, in 2014.
*   How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File, 2013 
 Single channel high definition digital video and sound in architectural environment 
 15 minutes, 52 seconds 
 Director of Photography Berlin: Christoph Manz 
 Director of Photography Los Angeles: Kevan Jenson 
 2nd unit: Leon Kahane 
 AD: Esme Buden, Alwin Franke 
 Postproduction: Christoph Manz, Alwin Franke 
 Make-Up and Costume Design: Lea Søvsø 
 Choreography and Performance: Arthur Stäldi 
 Producer: Kevan Jenson 
 Dolly Grip Los Angeles: Tony Rudenko 
 Educational Dummy: Hito Steyerl 
 Commissioned by Massimiliano Gioni, Venice Biennale. 
 Supported by the International Production Fund (IPF) - 2013 partners: Outset England, 
 Dermegon Daskalopoulos Foundation for Culture and Development, Outset USA, 
 Outset Netherlands with Promoters Van Abbemuseum, Maurice Marciano Family 
 Foundation. 
 Thank you to: Brian Kuan Wood, Meggie Schneider, Laura Poitras, Diana McCarty, 
 Christopher Kulendran Thomas, Anton Vidokle 
 Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Artists
Organised by
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
Image gallery







