Hito Steyerl

“I think art's role is to investigate the way things are comprehended - the lenses through which people see. In conflict, these lenses tend to be very standardised, very stereotypical.”

“I'm all for health and safety regulations. But the thing I don't understand is this: to put up a video, there's a ton of health and safety regulations, which are really irrational, to the point of not being able to show an artwork. Then, when it comes to real people, where is health and safety?”

“A building is a very interesting frame. You always get a sort of sample of different people inside a building.”

“I felt I needed to start looking outside the gallery into the neighbourhood because otherwise I would just circulate in this museum bubble. It's like going from airport to airport.”

“If you want to make a difference with art, which is a motive I perceive as questionable, then the single most stupid approach would be to tell people off. It would be a surefire way not to get through to people.”

“I like the combination of two different ideas that connect at an unexpected level.”

“I am focusing more on finding ways to improve situations rather than creating evidence or doing any form of consciousness-raising.”

“I think my approach is best summarised with the colloquial elephant in the room. These elephants are everywhere, but people pretend they aren't there. That's something that irritates me in a fundamental way.”

“While I was at film school, or even earlier, maybe the late 1980s, the market for independent-film production collapsed, and existing funding for long-form documentaries just stopped.”

“I never got into being an artist. For me, it's always more research, storytelling, maybe technological experimental. It's more like a laboratory setting.”

“Life is just embarrassing.”

“I don't want to make films that are so specialized that they're only accessible to people with prior knowledge or histories or references.”