Hito Steyerl

Key facts

Born

1966, German

Movements

• Contemporary
• Video
• New Media

Works held in

2 museums

Plan your visit to see Hito Steyerl →

• What is Hito Steyerl known for?+

  Steyerl is known for her critical examination of the internet's visual culture, particularly her concept of the 'poor image'. Her video installations and essay films frequently address themes of surveillance, data capitalism, and the military-industrial complex.
• What is Hito Steyerl's most famous work?+

  Hito Steyerl is a German academic, writer, and artist whose work analyses the sociopolitical power structures inherent in images. Her art often uses documentary evidence, text, and images to explore complex themes. One notable work is *Is the Museum a Battlefield?*, a two-channel digital video from 2013. This piece uses a split screen; one side shows battlefield remnants displayed on an iPhone, while the other shows Steyerl in front of the Brandenburg Gate holding up an iPhone. The work connects a museum to a battlefield through a series of associations. These include data clouds, iPhones, Angelina Jolie's film *Wanted*, art spam, and the Lockheed Martin building. Another significant work is *November* (2004), a 25-minute single-channel video. It incorporates footage from Steyerl's unfinished first film and features Wolf, an actress, in fight scenes. The film includes excerpts from Eisenstein’s *October* and explores themes of revolution and the passage of time. In her voice-over, Steyerl notes that we are no longer in October, but November, after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• What should I know about Hito Steyerl's prints?+

  Hito Steyerl is known for video installations, often addressing socio-political issues. When considering Steyerl's prints, bear in mind that artists who work in time-based media such as film or video frequently create editioned still photographs or prints related to their moving-image projects, which are then sold alongside the films or videos themselves. These related works can take the form of single photographs, diptychs, or triptychs. When purchasing a print, collectors should ask how the work is maintained, whether it can be moved (if site-specific), and how obsolete technology is addressed (for example, instructions for transferring the work to a new platform in the event of obsolescence). Certificates of authenticity and artwork purchase agreements can address these concerns, clarifying collectors' rights and the artist's intentions for appropriate presentation and copyright.
• What style or movement did Hito Steyerl belong to?+

  Hito Steyerl's work aligns with several contemporary art movements that explore the impact of technology and digital media on society. Her practice incorporates video, film, writing, and lectures, often analysing the circulation and consumption of images in the digital age. Steyerl's art shares characteristics with post-conceptualism, in its emphasis on ideas and critical analysis over traditional aesthetics. Her work also engages with media art, using video and digital platforms as primary mediums. Like other media artists, she examines the ways technology shapes perception and constructs reality. Some critics place her within the broader context of contemporary art that addresses globalisation, surveillance, and the politics of information. Her films and installations frequently investigate the power structures embedded in digital networks and the flow of images across borders. Steyerl's approach is often interdisciplinary, combining artistic practice with theoretical inquiry.
• What techniques or materials did Hito Steyerl use?+

  Hito Steyerl is a German academic, writer, and artist whose work analyses the image-dominated nature of contemporary life. Steyerl employs a range of techniques, often involving digital collage. This approach involves finding digital content, modifying it, and juxtaposing it with other digital content. Steyerl's video works often feature a smaller screen appearing within a larger one, known as a picture-in-picture overlay. Other elements include colour filters, text overlays, logos, pixelation, corporate branding, and text-to-speech software. These give the work an amateurish feel, reminiscent of online content. While some of Steyerl's videos rely on found content, others incorporate shot footage or computer-animated graphics. Her work, such as *Is the Museum a Battlefield?* (2013), uses text and images to explore connections between seemingly disparate elements, such as museums and battlefields. She subverts argument via documentary evidence and plays with causality.
• What was Hito Steyerl known for?+

  Hito Steyerl is a German academic, writer, and artist whose work analyses the sociopolitical power structures linked to images. Her practice explores how images shape people, social systems, and political systems. Steyerl sees images as mobile fragments of data, constantly reordered and reconfigured, which can be manipulated to tell specific stories or to distort and obscure. Steyerl's work often uses a form of didacticism, employing text and images to challenge conventional arguments. For example, *Is the Museum a Battlefield?* (2013) connects museums and battlefields through a complex exposition. The work incorporates data clouds, iPhones, and references to popular culture, such as Angelina Jolie's film *Wanted*, alongside observations about corporate sponsorship of the art world by companies involved in weapons manufacturing. Her work also engages with digital collage. *Factory of the Sun*, for example, satirises the gamification of capital. Steyerl's approach to digital collage has been compared to Dadaism, using the style to reveal aspects of contemporary online culture by exaggerating its frenetic spectacle.
• Where can I see Hito Steyerl's work?+

  Hito Steyerl is a German academic, writer, and artist whose work analyses the nature of our contemporary image-dominated reality. Her art has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally. One example is *Is the Museum a Battlefield?*, a two-channel video from 2013. It connects museums and battlefields, observing that the Louvre, the first public art museum, opened after the massacre of Swiss Guards in 1792; the museum itself was stormed during the revolutions of 1830, 1832, and 1848, and it was damaged in 1871. The work also incorporates data clouds, iPhones, Angelina Jolie's film *Wanted*, Frank Gehry's design for the Lockheed Martin building, and systems of digital surveillance. Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York and Esther Schipper Gallery in Berlin also represent Steyerl.
• Where was Hito Steyerl from?+

  It is not possible to determine Hito Steyerl's place of origin from the reference passages provided. The texts contain biographical details for several other German artists, including Rebecca Horn, who was born in Michelstadt; Georg Herold, born in Jena; K.H. Hodicke, born in Nuremberg; Ingo Gunther, born near Hannover; Hannah Hoch, associated with Berlin Dada; and Jürgen Klauke, born near Cochem an der Mosel. The passages also mention Hanne Darboven, who was born in Munich. However, none of these passages include any information about Hito Steyerl's background or place of birth. They focus instead on these other artists' education, artistic development, exhibitions, and affiliations with various art movements and galleries. Without additional sources, the question about Steyerl's origins cannot be answered.
• Who did Hito Steyerl influence?+

  Hito Steyerl's impact can be seen in the prevalence of digital collage within contemporary art. Her work has influenced artists who use digital collage as a critical tool, akin to the Dadaists' use of collage to lampoon the bourgeois state. Steyerl's concepts, such as 'digital debris', have been taken up by artists exploring the overload of information in the digital age. Steyerl's influence is evident in the work of artists who employ techniques like cutting-and-pasting internet materials, amateurish video overlays, corporate visual cues, computer-animated graphics, and fast-paced sequencing. Jennifer Chan's video *Boyfriend* and videos by Ryan Trecartin are examples of works that reflect Steyerl's themes. These artists, like Steyerl, use digital collage to reveal aspects of contemporary online culture by heightening its frenetic spectacle. Her research centres on the relationship between hierarchies of images and sociopolitical structures of power.
• Who influenced Hito Steyerl?+

  Hito Steyerl's work has connections to a range of artists, writers, and theorists. Dada and the related Berlin Dada movement are often cited as influences. Specific Dada figures include Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch (especially her photomontages and collages), and Richard Huelsenbeck. The Fluxus movement also appears as a touchstone. Other artists who relate to Steyerl's art include George Grosz, Paul Klee, Sol LeWitt (particularly his conceptual art and writing), Allan Kaprow, William Kentridge and Helen Marten. Writers and theorists such as Friedrich Kittler, Lev Manovich, Karl Marx, Jean-François Lyotard, Jurgen Habermas, Rosalind Krauss, and Antonio Gramsci may have had an impact on her ideas. Steyerl also seems to engage with the work of filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard.
• Who was Hito Steyerl?+

  Hito Steyerl is a German academic, writer, and artist whose work analyses the nature of our image-dominated reality. She has lectured and written extensively on the subject. Steyerl sees images not as objective or subjective renditions of reality, but as nodes of energy and matter. These nodes migrate across different supports, shaping people, social systems, and political systems. Steyerl's 2013 video work, *Is the Museum a Battlefield?*, connects museums and battlefields. It uses a complex structure, incorporating data clouds, iPhones, Angelina Jolie's film *Wanted*, Frank Gehry's Lockheed Martin building, and systems of digital surveillance. Her 2004 video, *November*, uses footage from Steyerl's unfinished first film. The film includes excerpts from Eisenstein’s *October*, and refers to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• Why are Hito Steyerl's works important today?+

  Hito Steyerl is a German academic, writer, and artist whose work analyses the image-dominated reality of contemporary culture. Her art considers the sociopolitical structures of power and image hierarchies. Steyerl has stated that images are not objective or subjective renditions of reality. Instead, they are nodes of energy and matter that migrate across supports, shaping people, social systems, and political systems. Her work analyses how images can be configured to tell a particular story, or be reconfigured to distort or obscure. Steyerl's art uses digital collage as a critical, quasi-Dadaist attitude towards the digital spectacle. Her 2004 video work *November* uses footage from Steyerl's unfinished first film. It provides a glimpse of a collective endeavour, like youthful, non-commercial punk film-making. Her video *Factory of the Sun* sends up the gamification of capital. Steyerl's work reveals aspects of online culture by heightening its frenetic spectacle.