Das Erste Mal presents the very first video works by contemporary artists. With their experimental and at times eccentric character, these short films offer a glimpse into the creative beginnings that already hint at the artists’ later
practices.

What makes these early videos compelling is their directness and lack of pretense—a raw will to express, when intuition precedes style and curiosity overrides calculation. Each work carries a sense of urgency and discovery, revealing how the immediacy of the moving image allows for spontaneous experimentation, accidents, and unfiltered emotion – moments when the camera becomes a tool for thinking, trying, and failing in real time.

The two-hour program features the following short films:

Prem Krishnamurthy, Counting: A Simple Meditation Tool, 2019, 4:33 min
Nathaniel de Large, Bath, 2008, 0:58 min
Tolia Astakhishvili, Horses, 1998, 4:27 min
Ben Rivers, The Big Sink, 1993, 12:49 min
Anna K.E., Gloss of a Forehead, 2011, 9:33 min
Georg Herold, Mein allerschönster Film, 2001, 0:53 min
Jeremy Shaw, 7 Minutes, 1995/2002, 5:28 min
Gregory Kalliche, Plate, 2012, 2:04 min
Agnieszka Polska, The Calendar, 2008, 6:12 min
Viktor Timofeev, Hexbugs (Artificial Life and Death), 2016, 4:20 min
Monica Mirabile, Film Stills, 2006, 2:36 min
Joey Frank, Cock Tale, 1996, 3:32 min
John Smith, Triangles, 1972, 3:00 min
Marianna Simnett, Mother, 2006, 1:09 min
John Henderson, Cleanings, 2010, 3:15 min
Narcissister, Russian Doll, 3:07 min
Jacolby Satterwhite, Model It, 2009, 6:28 min
Riley Hooker, Ralph, 2011, 5:21 min
Rachel Rossin, Think about the Future, 2012, 2:00 min
Henry Gunderson, Skate, 2009, 2:15 min
Vijay Masharani, American Veej, 2016, 3:02 min
Cayetano Ferrer, Aladdin Implosion, 1998, 1:10 min
Korakrit Arunanondchai, 2556, 2013, 21:09 min
Florian Meisenberg, The Anti-Prophet – in Love of Cioran, 2008, 5:10 min

Das Erste Mal has been screened at the Shoreditch Arts Club in London, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Kunstmuseum Bonn, and the Hotel Warszawa Art Fair. The program was conceived and is curated by artist and curator Florian Meisenberg.