March-June 2014
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

curated by Michelle Grabner

I was invited to participate in the 2014 Whitney Biennial. At that point in time, I was very interested in Eisenstein’s Soviet Montage theory and wanted to create a film that worked within the same principles, using only powerpoint and text. I was also obsessed with PowerPoint as an artistic medium. I loved the fact that it was a utilitarian tool associated with clarity and organization and that it was essentially free and readily available on any computer. The idea with Discussion Questions was that it would start out with clarity and logic but ultimately collapse under the weight of confusion and emotion.

The result was a short film that would specifically live within and discuss the slate of films in the Biennial. It’s a text based powerpoint presentation that becomes a cathartic dance party as the unreliable narrator works through his delusional romantic issues with a coworker at the university where he works.

Following its premiere in New York, Discussion Questions went on to screen at a handful of film festivals, including the Telluride and the San Francisco International Film Festival (where it won a Golden Gate Award).

PowerPoint Presentation converted to HD video 2014
Original music: Silas Hite