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14th DMZ Docs(2022)

I AM DOCU



The Unstable Object 2

Daniel EISENBERG

  • US
  • 2022
  • 204min
  • 12 +
  • DCP
  • color

AP

Synopsis

Three factories. Three radically different modes of production. A large prosthetics factory far removed in the mountains of central Germany, a small haute-couture glove factory in southern France, and a distressed jeans factory in central Turkey reveal three distinct contemporary paradigms of production, organization, and labor. Using techniques of durational observation, The Unstable Object II reveals the deeper meanings of these objects and sites, and in our world where the nature of work is radically changing, allows us the time and space to see our own place in the order of things.

Review

The Unstable Object 2 is a part of Daniel Eisenberg's series following The Unstable Object 1 released in 2011. As in the previous film, it adopts a triangular structure that crosses three places, showing different ways of working. A factory in Germany that makes prosthetic hands, a factory in southern France that makes gloves, and a factory in Istanbul, Turkey that makes jeans. The themes encompassing these three are the relationship between the human hand and the machine used as the tools for labor, and the relationship between work and materials. Meanwhile, in terms of image rhetoric, The Unstable object 2 can be said to be a film about hands and legs. The prosthetic hand, gloves and jeans are made with the technical handwork of skilled workers. Quasi-limbs, the result of such bodily work, asks about the nature of labor. What is the difference between the workers who make high-quality gloves and sturdy jeans and the people who consume them? Eisenberg strictly adheres to his own style of continuous observation, and does not use dialogue, commentary, or narrative hooks. To understand the world in which the nature of work is fundamentally improved, he patiently holds the camera and shoots, giving us an opportunity to observe and reflect.

Director

  • Daniel EISENBERG

    He has been making films and videos at the border between documentary and experimental media for over thirty-five years. His films have screened throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas with solo exhibitions. He received the Grand Prix for The Unstable Object 2 at FIDMarseille 2022.​ 

Credit