A Technological Passport

     During class, we watched a film titled: The Last Angel of History directed by John Akomfrah. In this film, we are subject to a strange character labeled simply as the data thief. This character is re-occurring throughout the film and has an interesting amount of ambiguity emanating from him. His goal is given to us at the beginning of the movie: search the globe for artifacts, through these artifacts he will unravel the mysteries of what was here before. When referencing these “artifacts,” I feel as though they can be simply labeled as the interviews conducted. These interviews are quite strange, some guests talk to each other, some guests have feuds, etc. It’s a strange glimpse into the cultural happenings of the music industry in the nineties. Throughout the film, we see a plethora of interviews with notable figures like George Clinton, who provides us with an interesting idea, “Mothership Connection is George Clinton's idea of connecting African culture with a future, the almost alien-like idea of what could have been. I think that this ideal of an alien experience for the black race is extremely important, and the Mothership connection is a perfect descriptor. What’s more alien than slavery, loss of culture, and loss of all connection?