Das Erste Mal presents the very first video works by contemporary artists. These eccentric short films offer a glimpse into the experimental foundations of their makers.

What makes these early videos compelling is their lack of pretense—their bare will to express, an intuition that precedes style, and a curiosity that overrides calculation. Each work carries a tangible feeling of discovery, revealing how the immediacy of the moving image allows for accidents and unfiltered emotion—moments when the camera becomes an instrument for thinking, trying, and failing in real time.

Participating artist include Korakrit Arunanondchai, Joey Frank, Cayetano Ferrer, Henry Gunderson, John Henderson, Georg Herold, Riley Hooker, Gregory Kalliche, Anna K.E., Prem Krishnamurthy, Nathaniel de Large, Vijay Masharani, Florian Meisenberg, Monica Mirabile, Agnieszka Polska, Ben Rivers, Rachel Rossin, Jacolby Satterwhite, Jeremy Shaw, Marianna Simnett, John Smith, Viktor Timofeev, and Lawrence Weiner.

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 is conceived and curated by artist and curator Florian Meisenberg.