P A N T E L I S M A K K A S
Blank Slate, 2009
Video, HD, 43min, color, sound
What is an image, really? Can a photograph possess substance, just as the living person it depicts does? These are among the profound and deceptively simple questions explored in the film—questions that eight, nine, and ten-year-old children respond to with remarkable clarity, wit, and insight.
In a thoughtful dialogue with journalist Corine Moutout, three children reflect on the power of moving images and photography in shaping human memory—an enduring theme in the work of Makkas. Though the questions are posed with childlike simplicity, they touch on intricate philosophical concerns: the relationship between time and space, the interplay of art and life, and the fragile boundary between reality and representation.
With Blank Slate, Makkas extends the legacy of Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking television documentary France/tour/detour/deux/enfants (1977), in which Godard critically engaged children in similar explorations. Yet the cultural landscape has transformed dramatically since the 1970s. Back then, children drew knowledge and ideas primarily from school, family, television, and their imagination. By 2009, the internet had entered the scene, revolutionizing how young minds absorb and process information.
This shift raises pressing questions: Has the digital age altered the way children interpret the world? Does their constant access to external sources weaken their trust in imagination, or does it instead sharpen their understanding, making them, in some ways, wiser than their counterparts from 1977?
With: Corine Moutout, Augustin Arnal, Rachel Boa, Ulysse Arnal
Written and directed by Pantelis Makkas
“One of the most interesting works in the exhibition “Genius Without Talent”, in De Appel is the video work “Blank Slate” by Pantelis Makkas. It poses questions in young children like: What is an image? What is time? Is someone real on a photo? and so on. The children gives very sensible answers and made me realise that most Dutch adults would find very difficult to answer these questions and many would not be able to have an answer at all. The absence of philosophy in our education system keeps us stupid.”
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