Those That, at a Distance, Resemble Another (Jessica Sarah Rinland, 2019)

For the Viennale catalog, I wrote the following:

Not all reproductions are mechanical, even in our age of digital imagery, 3D printing, and instantaneous communication. It is still necessary to create physical facsimiles of various artifacts of material culture, such as fossils, ancient pottery and tools. These objects are, after all, documents, and as such they must be backed up, like any archive. There is too much global knowledge at stake to make a fetish of the original.

Jessica Sarah Rinland’s debut feature could be considered a “museum procedural.” Focusing intently on the process of reproducing an elephant tusk, the film moves out in multiple directions, examining the processes by which cultural objects are duplicated, displayed, and restored. While these processes are highly technical, there remains an artisanal aspect to these efforts, which Rinland emphasizes with her frequent close-ups on the activities of hands. 

Exhibiting affinities with the late Harun Farocki, Rinland attends to the intimate details of work, showing us that the production of cultural memory is, ultimately, a process of collective labor.

Now, all of the above is indeed true. But, it being a catalog description, you'll notice a certain neutrality with respect to the film.  Those That, at a Distance is a highly competent, intellectual work, but it should be noted that, at least for me, it was not particularly enjoyable to watch. I found Rinland's use of images functional at best, and its leisurely pace felt unearned somehow. I emphasize the way the film observes labor in the description, but there is not anything particularly innovative or enlightening about the way Rinland watches people do what they do. So the film feels a bit like a visual essay from someone who hasn't yet found their footing with the medium. It seems like there's one of these in Wavelengths nearly every year, and I've just learned to accept it.