Debut, or, Objects of the Field of Debris as Currently Catalogued

Made with a very modest budget and an inventive DIY approach, Castronovo’s debut feature builds a fascinating detective story with elusive clues and traces – while, at the same time, reflecting on the art of forgery.

Written, directed and edited by Julian Castronovo, Debut, or, Objects of the Field of Debris as Currently Catalogued could easily become a cult item for those fascinated by detective stories, cinematic experimentation and research strategies. It begins when the narrator comes into possession of the belongings of a filmmaker and starts reconstructing his movements: the story of a search. Through clever work with different narrative levels, Castronovo’s debut feature manages to be both an oblique self-portrait (with a good dose of playfulness and delicious wit), and a speculative fiction about Fawn Ma (a Chinese art forger and performance artist).

The film revolves around the ethics and aesthetics of forgery. Working with different techniques of performance, research, re-enactment, simulation and appropriation, Castronovo investigates the obsessive impulse that drives us to create stories and meaning by organising a tapestry of elusive clues and traces. Undoubtedly inspired by Orson Welles’ F for Fake (1973), the film bends and blends its object of study with the methodology employed: the inquiry into art forgery becomes the very practice of forging art.

– Cristina Álvarez López

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