An Evening with Auguste Orts #2

The Otolith group presents: Chris Marker – The Owl’s Legacy (France and Greece, 1989 -13 × 26’)

Introduction by Kodwo Eshun of The Otolith Group on the controversial television series by Marker about the Greek identity.

START 18.00
18:00 – 18:26 episode #1 (26’)
18:26 – 18:52 episode #2 (26’)
18:52 – 19:18 episode #3 (26’)
19:18 – 19:44 episode #4 (26’)
19:44 – 20:10 episode #5 (26’)

INTRODUCTION 20:00 Kodwo Eshun (The Otolith Group)

20:40 – 21:06 episode #6 (26’)
21:06 – 21:32 episode #7 (26’)
21:32 – 21:58 episode #8 (26’)
22:58 – 22:24 episode #9 (26’)
22:24 – 22:50 episode #10 (26’)
22:50 – 23:16 episode #11 (26’)
23:16 – 23:42 episode #12 (26’)
23:42 – 00:08 episode #13 (26’)

END 00.10

Chris Marker: Memories of the Future by Catherine Lupton:
“Two aspects of Greek culture have a particular resonance with Marker’s ongoing concerns. One, already mentioned in passing, is the idea that for the ancient Greeks, all the different intellectual disciplines that sought to understand both the physical world and the realm of human experience were seen as an integrated continuum. Modern division between the sciences and the humanities, logos and mythos, theatre and life, as well as the either/or choices imposed by monotheistic religions, are antithetical to the Greek belief that all such modes of enquiry are profoundly interconnected, and to the Greek acceptance of ambiguity or uncertainty as a legitimate philosophical position.”

IMDB, 19 december 2005. Meddlecore
The Owl’s Legacy is a symposium. A symposium of symposium’s. A gathering over food and wine where the host, in this case Marker, picks a topic of discussion, which is ritually discussed in unison with the passing of the wine. The conversation becomes a journey. A journey in which the destination is unknown and the possibilities are endless. For this symposium, strictly for intellectuals, Marker has chosen the topic of the Greeks. We meet a number of authorities on the subject whom have been invited to participate, all whom are backed by an artistic owl, representing their individual contribution to the symposium in its entirety. They take us on a journey, touching upon things such as the great poets, rulers and philosophers, discussing their ideas, innovations, myths, poems, sayings… all of which have moulded the world into the shape we see it today. They discuss how the Greeks have shaped every aspect of our lives, including ourselves. One man says that the Greeks discovered our psyche, our conscience, as well as deviations of the psyche. Things which Freud and other modern rhinkers would later be credited with discovering were discussed by the great Greek thinkers of ancient times, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Sophacles, Euripides, to name only a few. They discuss how Greek poetry and thought is the conniption between dreams and reality, the median, from which all things thrive. Their thoughts, poems, songs and stories have survived the ages and have helped us better understand the essence of our being and have comforted us as we know that they have sought and pondered the same questions that we seek to answer, ourselves, today. Their way of life has been the basis for the ways of life of the majority of the world. There is no field which has not been influenced by the Greeks, they are responsible for nurturing that which has enabled us to become the advanced civilization we are today. We owe everything to the Greeks. This is the journey that this discussion, this symposium, the owl’s legacy, will bring us on.