Abstract
ABSTRACT This article engages with the obstacles confronting documentary-oriented artists when engaging with the multifaceted problem of the era of climate change. The label ‘documentary’ evokes several assumptions and suggests that such artworks represent events in an objective, neutral and unmediated way. Consequently, the premise of representing reality-as-it-is is attached to these kinds of documentary artworks. Despite the large body of theoretical reflections on the limitations of the documentary mode, these false assumptions and promises endure. By revisiting the genealogy of the documentary tradition, and with particular reference to Hannes Dereere and Silke Huysmans’ 2019 performance Pleasant Island, this article points at some challenges and possible solutions for documentary artists to cope with the overwhelming complexity that characterises our current period.
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