The Film All-Nighter

The Film All-Nighter

Please Relax Now!

COMFORT. Makes you think of new seating furniture or first-class railway travel, doesn’t it? Well, in German at least, the term »comfort« seems to reside entirely in the advertising realm. We feel comfortable in it, even when we are turned into merely passive buyers. But what exactly is there still to choose in the brave new world of commodities? A Choice, Maybe Not! Is COMFORT possibly something more than consumption? And do we really want to carry on being carried on?
The feel-good industry makes us offers all over the place. As  early as 1939, a visit to the Finnish sauna promised to unveil the Secret of Beauty and Youth. A bit confusing, then, that the health and efficiency discourse has picked up speed again in this decade of ours.
Luckily, we’ve still got the the Cure Pusher and the Galactic Pot Healer who – with biting irony – raise us above the slick of oily PR language and possibly save ourselves from ourselves.
The music videos in the All-nighter also gauge the comfort zone. Anyone expecting a glamorous life as a pop star in a cool setting is out of luck. Using a range of different techniques, the videos tell of social craze and craziness, of retreat, religion and rebellion and, not least, of happiness. Or to put it in the words of EMA: »This one’s for all the weirdos out there. Cherish your friends, fuck the haters and let your freak flag fly.«
We will be showing works by artists who convincingly demonstrate that it pays to be uncomfortable. Please relax now!

_Jessica Manstetten / Betty Schiel