poetic reading
There is a certain magic here. From the top of three screens, visual content apparently spills over into the one below, reaching the bottom screen. The film offers insight into a newspaper printing factory, where the paper is also trimmed along the edges, producing a stream of shreds. These sink and tumble elegantly from the top across the screens to the floor, forming a semi-transparent curtain of debris. Behind this curtain of excess, work on new editions of printed news continues.
Objective description
Three panels, stacked vertically, provide a glimpse into the interior of a large printing press. Gigantic offset machines print newspapers here daily. The content is printed onto seemingly endless rolls of paper, which are cut and folded by machines multiple times before reaching the kiosk in the typical newspaper format. In this process, the edges are also trimmed. The countless scraps from the edges of the newspapers finally fall from the conveyor belt like a waterfall of paper. In this multi-channel work, they cascade from the upper panel into the next and the next, like a semi-transparent curtain in front of the perspectives on the work of materializing the news.
Plausible association
Any production assumes consumption. Any production involves leftovers, unused elements, excess material. Observing the production of printed newspapers behind a waterfall of excess paper shreds inspires thoughts of newsworthy events that didn’t make the headline, nor any other section inside preconfigured containers governed by economic logic. The work suits any context that concerns issues of material scarcity, the use of organic matter, the purpose of forests, the business of narration, storytelling, politics, and counter-politics. In many ways, this work examines the machinery of the attention economy.
Artistic intention
Running poetic beauty into rational observation, this meditative work grips its viewers through its insistence on the reality observed: the vast amount of material at stake in what is consumed in a highly superficial and selective manner. Yes, the news and gossip glue societies together, and yes, much of it is inflated.
Keywords
Participation
Trees Falling, © KOMBINAT kombiniert Tanz und Film UG, 2025, Armano Forster, KOMBINAT Tanz und Film
Extended License
Allowed
- exclusively non-commercial use for cultural, scientific or transdisciplinary, dialogue- and knowledge-oriented, and public-interest purposes
- context-bound (site-specific) presentation on monitors, screens, or by projection before a live audience of up to 1000 persons
- online presentation within a non-commercial, context-bound framework
- for digital pictures high-quality photographic prints in up to 5 copies (maximum size restrictions apply)
- use in event-related self-promotion, public relations, documentation, and communication purposes (print and online)
- use in moving-image formats (e.g. film, video essay), provided the artistic integrity of the work is maintained
Required
- use as is (no alteration permitted, see legal terms for details)
- Presentation of the entire work, without cropping or partial overlay.
- Time-based media must be presented without interruptions or omissions.
- Looped or silent presentation is permitted where explicitly stated.
- Credit line must be provided as specified
Forbidden
- any use outside a contextual relationship*
- kommerzielle Nutzung, insbesondere zu werblichen Zwecken
- upload auf nicht-kontextgebundene Plattformen (insbesondere soziale Netzwerke und offene Streaming-Plattformen)
- transfer or sale to third parties
- any form of modification or alteration beyond the permitted use
- partial presentation or excerptions of the work
- The poetic complement is intended as a relational insertion and is not conceived as an autonomous use.
Basic License
Allowed
- exclusively non-commercial use for cultural, scientific or transdisciplinary, dialogue- and knowledge-oriented, and public-interest purposes
- context-bound (site-specific) presentation on monitors, screens, or by projection before a live audience of up to 500 people
- for digital pictures high-quality photographic prints in up to one copy (maximum size restrictions apply)
Required
- use as is (no alteration permitted, see legal terms for details)
- Presentation of the entire work, without cropping or partial overlay.
- Time-based media must be presented without interruptions or omissions.
- Looped or silent presentation is permitted where explicitly stated.
- Credit line must be provided as specified
Forbidden
- any use outside a contextual relationship*
- commercial use (including promotional or self-promotional purposes)
- permanent public dissemination or unrestricted public upload/publication
- transfer or sale to third parties
- integration into third-party works outside the intended context
- any form of modification or alteration beyond the permitted use
- partial presentation or excerptions of the work
- The poetic complement is intended as a relational insertion and is not conceived as an autonomous use.
Layout and Draft License
Allowed
- Sketch-like use for testing, layout, and conceptual purposes
- Internal presentations and draft visualizations
- Placement and contextual evaluation within the intended setting
Required
- Use the artistic work in accordance with our guidelines
- Use the artistic work as is
- Use the complete image without alterations to the image composition
- For time-based media: use the work in full length, at normal speed, and without omissions
- If the work is publicly used under an applicable license: communicate at minimum the specified credit line in an appropriate manner
Forbidden
- Public presentation of the watermarked file
- Publication or commercial use
- Alteration of image composition, image content, or dramaturgy
- Redistribution of the file to third parties
- Removal or concealment of the watermark