Abstract (2012)

Abstract (2012) is a two-channel video commemorating a childhood friend of Hito Steyerl’s called Andrea Wolf, who became an activist and revolutionary and was eventually killed in the Kurdish region of Turkey in 1998 while fighting for the PKK. Wolf was already subject of Steyerl’s films November (2004) and Lovely Andrea (2007), and Abstract shows Steyerl visiting the site where her friend died, examining casings from the ammunition that most likely killed her. Instead of including any pictures of Wolf, the Kurdish guide is shown recounting the circumstances surrounding her death. On the other screen, Steyerl is in Berlin, taking mobile phone pictures of an office of Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of weapons sold by the German government to the Turkish Army. Combining cinematography, globalisation and warfare, it reveals how the political and private are closely interconnected.

All rights reserved. Any further use will need to be cleared with the rights holder. Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited. The collection that owns this artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

For further information, please consult our section of our copyright policy.