Eye Art & Film Prize Exhibition Features Wang Bing, Ben Rivers, and Hito Steyerl in Amsterdam

The Eye Art & Film Prize exhibition at Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam showcases the inaugural recipients: Wang Bing, Ben Rivers, and Hito Steyerl, running from 24 March to 27 May. This presentation challenges disciplinary boundaries between cinema and visual arts, while exploring shared anxieties about truth transmission in contemporary art. Ben Rivers's works include The Shape of Things (2016) and Oh Liberty! (2008), using 16mm film to examine human reproduction and perspective. Hito Steyerl's digital installations The Tower (2015) and Liquidity Inc. (2014) interrogate truth-fiction dynamics and the physical labor behind digital culture. Wang Bing's immersive multi-screen installation features films like Crude Oil (Yuanyou) (2008), a 14-hour documentary focusing on Chinese laborers, which he described at a press conference as a 'primitive' attempt to faithfully represent subjects' lives. He noted that real political films avoid explicit political mentions, reflecting a protest against truth perversion by state and commercial actors. The exhibition sympathetically installs each work in separate rooms, highlighting themes of documentary versus fiction and art's political engagement. Online coverage was published exclusively on 23 March, emphasizing the prize's role in rewarding artists working at the intersection of film and visual arts.