Goethe Hof: Reflected Memories

Films have the potential to offer a glimpse into the human experience across different eras. This insight extends beyond the narrative of the film itself, encompassing the ways in which we can access and appreciate it. From its initial public broadcast, which was only available in cinemas, to the present day, it has become accessible individually and remotely via various devices.

"Reflected Memories" respectfully explores the collective memory of watching films with the DVD medium. It is not limited to the question of how DVDs are a film medium, but also looks at the phenomenon of interaction between the audience and the film, the context of pirated DVDs, and the history of alternative media circulation in Indonesia. It is suggested that the experience of watching films often comes through pirated copies, which are cheap and unofficial, but leave a mark on the public's relationship with cinema.

The installation will be presented as a reflective landscape in the Goethe-Institut Bandung courtyard, and will use thousands of used DVD discs. This medium has now become somewhat obsolete, but at one time it played an important role in the alternative cinema experience in Indonesia. The installation has been thoughtfully designed to resemble shelves of pirated DVDs stretched horizontally, reflecting the surrounding light, shadow, and colour, creating an optical landscape that changes over time, weather, and viewing angle. The installation is intended to be more than just a visual object, and it presents cinema as an open, moving, and physically experiential space of collective memory. Visitors are invited to exchange a disc for a personal story, in the hope that this simple exchange will help to keep memory circulating.

The installation will conclude with an audio-cinematic performance that brings the disc landscape to life through sound and light, inviting the audience to experience cinema as a shared, atmospheric experience.