Forensic Architecture The whole truth?

Johns, Dr. Deniz (2021) Forensic Architecture The whole truth? Millenium Film Journal, 74. pp. 42-49. ISSN 1064-5586

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Abstract

In this article I examine the aesthetic strategies Forensic Architecture utilise in their video investigations, through critical analysis of The Killing of Tahir Elçi (2019). My focus is on the representation of real, violent events through computer-generated simulations that employ cinematic codes and conventions; problematic spectatorship of such; and issues relating to a claim by Eyal Weizman, Forensic Architecture’s founding director, namely that there is a “necessity for the truth to be produced and staged” (2017:74). In the arena of international law, their “counter-forensic” investigations into state violence, which generally is swept under the carpet as closed cases, are invaluable. But how does the work function in the realm of aesthetics: in museums and art galleries, which the agency has been using as a platform— or, in their words, “forum”? How is the verbal and visual language of their work constructed and what are the political implications of such constructions?