Ernste Spiele III: Immersion

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© Generali Foundation Collection—Permanent Loan to the Museum der Moderne Salzburg

Harun Farocki

Ernste Spiele III: Immersion, 2009

Single-channel version of the two-channel video installation, Video, color, sound, 20 min, Director, Scriptwriter: Harun Farocki, Research: Matthias Rajmann, Editors: Harun Farocki, Max Reimann, Cinematographer: Ingo Kratisch, Sound: Matthias Rajmann, Production: Harun Farocki Filmproduction, Berlin, with support from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH, Co-production: Jeu de Paume, Paris, Stuk, Leuven

GF0031147.00.0-2010

Artwork text

"Serious Games" (2009–2010) is a four-part film series by the German filmmaker Harun Farocki. It explores the use of virtual reality, specifically video game technologies, in training and therapy for soldiers. The third part, "Immersion", shows a workshop about the Virtual Iraq immersion therapy video game held in Fort Lewis, Washington. The aim of the therapy is to help soldiers process traumatic experiences by reliving them in a supervised setting. At this workshop, a virtual ambush is simulated by civilian therapists from a company wanting to sell the program to the army. They recreate the situation so convincingly that it’s no longer clear whether the experience is real or not. (Jürgen Tabor)

Lending history
2014 Hamburg, DE, Kunstverein Hamburger Bahnhof