Like seen on the Screen

“Like seen on the Screen – The Media and our Environment” is a platform for researchers and artists to work together with high school students within the field of Humanities and Cultural Studies. Filmic documents about Vienna, particularly rare amateur films from the Austrian Filmmuseum’s collections are being analyzed in terms of their historical context, linked to other historical research and then transformed into new inter media forms. What is the significance of private films in creating a sense of community? How can the representation in film of everyday life and lifestyles in the past lead to a future-oriented reflection of the public realm?

The project promises new insights into Visual Studies, beyond the linking of Cultural Studies and the analysis of the archives based on the knowledge and perception of the students. Simultaneously, “Like Seen on the Screen” may also make Contemporary History, Critical Media Theory and Political Education more accessible and raised young adult’s consciousness for the historicity of their immediate topographic surrounding as well as how media constructs our environment.

The paradigms of Visual History had been a subject of the fundamental research project FILM.STADT.WIEN since 2009. These paradigms will become verifiable and applicable for the researchers as a result of this project. The access to rare archival materials and the intense cooperation with researchers and artists make students familiar with methods of Cultural Studies and allowed them to apply them to their city. The collected knowledge will then be creatively transposed into a Mental Mapping and presented to the public.