T.F.I.D. (The Future is Dead)

T.F.I.D. (The Future is Dead) is a bold and inno­va­ti­ve film and exhi­bi­ti­on pro­gram­me, so far pre­sen­ted in New York, Shanghai, Mexico City, Wrocław and Tokyo. While the con­cept is cons­tant, each noma­dic edi­ti­on has dif­fe­ren­ces, featu­ring new mate­ri­al and explo­ring new the­mes. It pre­sents a ran­ge of hig­hly advan­ced and visi­onary digi­tal per­s­pec­ti­ves on the pre­sent and whe­re it may lead. In the way that William Gibson hin­ted at, it tri­es in advan­ce to make sen­se of the fic­ti­on that we will soon have beco­me. The cen­tre­pi­ece of T.F.I.D. in Pula is the new film Evil Spirit. Although it was pre­pa­red in advan­ce and doesn’t com­ment direc­tly on cur­rent events, the chil­ling paral­lels of the film are cle­ar. In it, a male­vo­lent, all-seeing for­ce degra­des and cor­rup­ts America. It’s a nig­h­t­ma­rish but visu­al­ly fas­ci­na­ting jour­ney into a heart of dark­ness. As Embryoroom, Edward Quist buil­ds on his long fil­m­ma­king expe­ri­en­ce and incor­po­ra­tes influ­en­ces from the dys­to­pi­an American and British near-futu­re dys­to­pi­as of the 1970s and 1980s. The final ele­ment in his cre­ati­ve for­mu­la are the dar­k­ly atmosp­he­ric elec­tro­nic soun­d­trac­ks. The com­bi­na­ti­on of all the­se ele­ments is nig­h­t­ma­ri­s­hly and hyp­no­ti­cal­ly beautiful.
The exhi­bi­ti­on also gives Croatian viewers a chan­ce to explo­re seve­ral of Quist’s pre­vi­ous sci­en­ce fic­ti­on films, plus his col­la­bo­ra­ti­ons with renowned elec­tro­nic musi­ci­ans inclu­ding Pan Sonic, Ilpo Vaisanen, John Duncan and Paul Kendall. The col­la­bo­ra­ti­ons showca­se some of the most advan­ced elec­tro­nic music and visu­als from the 1990s to the pre­sent. Finally, the guest films explo­re vital con­tem­po­rary tec­h­no-soci­al issu­es. Alex Rutterford’s ghos­tly sce­na­rio trac­ks the waking spec­tre of AI, and how it may disrupt reality when it ful­ly awa­kens. Embryoroom’s inten­si­ve remixing of the fil­mo­grap­hy of the noto­ri­ous fil­m­ma­ker Bruce LaBruce raises ques­ti­ons of artis­tic fre­edom and cen­sor­ship, espe­ci­al­ly in the con­text of rising popu­lism. Finally, Sz. Berlin ± Panic explo­res the legacy of 20th Century rati­ona­list indus­tri­alism in the 21st Century. What meaning do the­se vast and toxic indus­tri­al ruins have today? Are they sim­ply a war­ning of the failu­res of dead futu­res, or can they also be pla­ces in which we can reflect on and find tem­po­rary refu­ge from the present? 

Alexei Monroe

k: Edward Quist

a: Edward Quist, Bruce LaBruce, John Duncan, Paul Kendall, Pan Sonic, Ilpo Väisänen, Alan Vega, Alex Rutterford, Paul Stein, Sz. Berlin ± Panic

Edward Quist was born in 1976 in Brooklyn, New York. A direc­tor, wri­ter, pro­du­cer, com­po­ser, sound desig­ner, pho­to­grap­her and docu­men­ta­ri­an, who lives and wor­ks in New York City under the artis­tic iden­tity embryo­ro­om. The the­mes of his work inclu­de the explo­ra­ti­on of elec­tro­nic and biomorp­hic ima­gery, expe­ri­men­tal nar­ra­ti­ve and sound design. He employs a radi­cal use of Cinéma vérité, which is frequ­en­tly simul­ta­ne­ous­ly nig­h­t­ma­rish and seduc­ti­vely beauti­ful. Quist’s work is uncla­ssi­fi­able and strip­ped of the conven­ti­ons of gen­re. His unor­t­ho­dox use of inten­si­ve mesme­ri­zing visu­als thro­ugh moti­on grap­hic mani­pu­la­ti­on is a con­ti­nu­ous and evol­ving work. He has exhi­bi­ted and per­for­med glo­bal­ly inclu­ding: Ikon Gallery (Birmingham), Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna), Sónar Festival (Barcelona), Avanto Festival (Helsinki), Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival, Dissonanze fes­ti­val (Rome), Tampere Film Festival, MoMA PS1 (New York), The Milan Film Festival, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Helsinki), Green Box Gallery (Turin), Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, La Casa Encendida (Madrid), Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci (Milan), Cine Cosmos (Buenos Aires), Museo del Fumetto di Milano, Parco Sempione / Castello Sforzesco (Milan), Envoy Enterprises (New York), Public Records (New York).