Hito Steyerl: the essay as a form of moving image, writing and performance

This thesis promotes a greater understanding of a burgeoning approach to art making—the essayistic—by looking at the work of internationally prominent creative practitioner Hito Steyerl. Analysing Steyerl’s work across video installation, writing and performance it contends that Steyerl’s speculative approach allows for the testing of certain assumptions regarding the essay—and its derivative the essay film—as a form. Using Steyerl’s work as a case study it demonstrates that the current generic approach to essay film, in particular, is inadequate for addressing the relationship between various modes of critical production in the contemporary moment.