Harun Farocki @ CCA

There were a few who thought the CCA a lost cause. A series of obscure shows that persistently fell short of what Glasgow’s foremost contemporary art institution should be offering opened a significant lacuna in the city’s cultural output. With GoMA nothing but a crumbling classical edifice, Glasgow looks to the CCA to lead the way in establishing the city as a forerunner in the arts, rather than simply leaving it all up to the kids.

With Harun Farocki’s Comparison via a Third, the gallery’s gone some way towards redeeming itself. To many, German filmmaker Farocki is no less an obscure figure, but one undoubtedly worth knowing about. His three films are in turn engaging, shocking and exceptionally well made. Perfectly paced, they are a masterclass in the construction of drama in documentary film.

The film Comparison via a Third shows various methods of brick production in India, Africa and Europe. Using a double channel video projection, we see the different cultures side by side, exposing the vast gulf that separates Westernised factory processes from the rest of the world. We find ourselves transfixed, not by the hands-on methods of non-western countries, but the absurdity of modern factory processes.

I Thought I was Seeing Convicts is likewise a dual projection. It compares the systems of control put in place by prisons and supermarkets to govern the behaviour of inmates and shoppers. Exposing the barbarism of the prison environment, it shows how prison wardens orchestrate fights between inmates, normally leading to one being shot by a guard for their disobedience.

Far from didactic, these works are subtle and complex. What is more, they are absolutely certain of their politics. Smug, deluded and in every way estranged, western society is long overdue a good look at itself – perhaps through the eyes of this excellent filmmaker. [Andrew Cattanach]