The Ister
A screening and conversation with David Barrison, introduced and chaired by Isobel Bowditch
This was the first Thinking Through Practice event, held before we formally established the project. As such, this was the ‘pilot’ event for us.
The Ister intricately combines an overtly philosophical content with a deeply aesthetic sensibility, reflecting the backgrounds and interests of its two makers, David Barrison and Daniel Ross. When we heard that David Barrison was due to be in London, we grasped the opportunity to invite him to speak with us about this extraordinary film.
The Ister takes us on a journey from the mouth of the Danube river on the Black Sea to its source in the German Black Forest. It is based on Martin Heiddegger’s work, in particular a series of lectures he delivered at the University of Freiburg in 1942 entitled ’Hölderlin’s Hymn “The Ister”‘. The title of Friedrich Hölderlin’s poem Der Ister refers to an ancient name for a part of the Danube River. Daniel Ross and David Barrison’s film takes up the difficulties and provocations presented by Heidegger in these lectures, challenging us to think with Heidegger whilst never forgetting the fact of his earlier association with National Socialists ‘revolution’.
Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy, Bernard Stiegler, and the filmmaker Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, all of whom appear in the film, discuss the implications of Heidegger’s thought for the most urgent issues in contemporary culture – technology, national mythology, ideas of home and belonging, culture, ecology, politics, war.
For a more in-depth description of the film visit the website www.theister.com
The library at Chelsea College of Art and Design has a copy of the film The Ister.
Read Mary Anne Francis’s Intoduction to The Ister introduction for Critical Positions.
Also see notes and audio resource from a later lecture by Bernard Stiegler at Chelsea College of Art & Design, March 2008 on Critical Practice website criticalpracticechelsea.org/wiki/index.php/London_Festival_of_Europe
Special thanks to Marcus Kleinfeld, Beatrice Schultz, Amy O’Neill and Jessica Tsang for their help with The Ister event.
Read the accompanying discussion at Critical Practice
Chelsea Lecture Theatre, Chelsea College of Art, 16 John Islip Street, London SW17 8TP