Jessica Sarah Rinland’s films use documents, archival sources and sound recordings, to explore the complex relationships between humans, animals, and their environments. InMonólogo colectivo, she follows workers at Argentinian zoos and rescue centers, capturing their intimate interactions with animals through close visuals and inventive soundscapes. The film reflects on the emotional bonds between caregivers and creatures, as well as the historical evolution of these institutions. In Extramission: The Capture of Glowing Eyes, Rinland revisits the work of George Shiras III, a pioneer of camera-trap photography, using early 20th-century National Geographic archives to critique the violence of capturing animals and the act of human extraction.
Art historian Sophie Berrebi, author of The Shape of Evidence (2014), examines the role of visual documents in contemporary art. Together, Rinland and Berrebi will discuss how utilitarian photography and film challenge conventional notions of representation and knowledge, revealing the document as a critical form for reflecting on art, history, science and the ethics of observation.
