Johan Grimonprez

Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y + Inflight

1997–2001

© Johan Grimonprez, Photography by Rony Vissers

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Not on display

Artist: Johan Grimonprez born 1962
Medium: Video, projection, colour and sound (stereo) and printed papers
Dimensions: Overall display dimensions variable
Collection: ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland
Acquisition: ARTIST ROOMS Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
Reference: AR00085

Online caption

The Belgian artist and filmmaker Johan Grimonprez came to prominence when this highly-acclaimed one hour video montage was shown in 1997. The work traces the history of airplane hijackings through found video footage and televised images. Grimonprez juxtaposes this central narrative with references to the Cold War and quotations from Don DeLillo’s novels 'White Noise' and 'Mao II'. Examining the abundance of information available via the media, much of which is spectacular and sensationalist, Grimonprez acknowledges the hidden or unseen events which cannot be recorded. He thus presents the viewer with the potential impossibility of documenting historical fact.