What can we really know?

What can we really know? How can we know? What we don't know, we replace with something else. Body awareness. What the senses tell us. Faith, knowledge, superstition, imagination. History and the present, speculative fiction. Ichi una is the Peruvian Cashinahua tribe's name for the knowledge of the skin - but on the other hand, it sounds like the itch of a sweater. And sweaters are indeed felted in Kasia Gorniak's book My Body Knows. All other sensory organs also have their own awareness, the brain cannot possess all knowledge (maybe that's why I was able to go home without seeing or thinking anything). "Take the ‘directed by’ out of there". Is the head of the camera crew always the real (or only) author? In the context of experimental film and video art, perhaps for practical reasons, we are used to talking about directors, even though the job description is anything but that of a director of a feature film. In practice, the "director" often writes, drafts, films, edits, and even acts - "directing" really remains on the margins. Of course, the desire to distinguish oneself from mainstream cinema also plays a role here. If plot structures and star images are not the most central feature of an art video, perhaps the title of director is also alienated. Even in a larger group, there is a desire to emphasize anti-authoritarianism. However, Kasia Gorniak's work was as close to traditional directing as possible. She was the initiator of the process, but the text, performance, and filming were outsourced. During and after filming, she knew very well what she wanted, and could really focus on directing. Does art have much to do with knowing? It is often claimed that art develops emotional skills. Readers of a historical novel (or some of them) know exactly where the author has made a mistake. In science fiction, science is starting to take a back seat - nowadays we prefer to talk about speculative fiction. In Spef, what is "true" is a matter of convention, but often that convention is not verbally defined. Possible Space's music videos have everything you need for a warped perception of reality. In the urban landscapes and suburbs, you may find idyll but also dystopia. Strongly over-acting, accurately illustrating the lyrics of the songs, the expression is very reminiscent of a silent film (some of Possible Space's videos do indeed use black and white and interstitial texts). In “Am I From The Future”, like Jehovah's Witnesses, they walk around pushing leaflets at people, literally wearing a tinfoil hat. However, the question and chorus Am I from the future are directed at themselves. Are explanations of the world more equal if they are all drawn? Diagrams, miniature models and, for example, diagrams drawn on the floor with chalk help us understand abstract thought patterns, but do they also make them more real? Typically for contemporary documentaries, in Jani Ruscica's “Evolutions”, the author avoids taking positions, the power of speech is given to the young people being portrayed. What are the creatures that have ears that do not hear? That have eyes that do not see? Maybe they are images of God. Maybe even images of humans. Jenni Luhta is known for the full-length video essay “Syndafloden” (2021) that she made with her husband Lauri Luhta. This time, however, we see the six-minute “Efter människan”. But what dominates the long form also dominates the short form. (Is this a generalization that does not withstand statistical examination? Well, it does!). Well, it is worth checking that yourself. What you do not know yourself, you do not know - but do not forget to cite sources.