From the late 1960s onward, Harun Farocki made more than 120 films and installations, whose main goal was to analyze the power of images in a consumer society and tap into their critical potential. A central theme in his work was war—which he opposed in all forms. Beginning with the Vietnam War and the Iranian Revolution, then the wars in the Persian Gulf and in the Balkans, Farocki sought a language to counteract the images of war as they appear on TV screens, spreading a politics of fear and paralyzing audiences. Farocki, who passed away in July 2014, did not live to see the war in Ukraine unfolding. But his works against the wars of the 20th century observed from afar preempt and anticipate Russia’s current war of aggression–in which all the horrors of previous wars are imploding. In the framework of steirischer herbst ʼ22, the exhibition in Forum Stadtpark presents a cross section of Harun Farocki’s works against war, including rarely shown ones. It is complemented by photographs by Armin Linke of Farocki’s library and its many titles analyzing the dynamics of war and capital.

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