Being paced is a feeling that is deeply connected to the airport experience. One moves at different speeds, ranging from hurried, to strolling, to static. The fantasy of the airport, which takes a hint from the assembly line, is to tell you that an existence where people and things are always on time is not only possible but should be pursued. In reality, you’re either too late, having to rely on the moving walkways to provide extra acceleration, or too early, in which case the diversion that a HD commercial video screen can provide is gratefully accepted, even if what you see is just a commercial for an even better screen available for purchase somewhere (but not here).

Under the motto Pacing FRAport we are meddling in the airport’s traffic and business. Traffic, however, might not only refer to the delegation of inbound planes and anxious passengers in this case, but could also designate the traffic of data and imagery traveling along the complicated visual marketing grids of the airport.

Since the Kolleg is concerned with “Configurations of Film,” this is where we see the chance for an intervention. How can these ensembles be addressed, analyzed, understood? Our field trip and the subsequent panels, prepared by working groups of the Kolleg and our guests Anna McCarthy (NYU Tisch) and Norman M. Klein (CalArts), suggest taking a detour to increase our awareness to aspects of TIME, SPACE, and SENSEs related to the moving image.