This course explores the films, politics, alter egos and shifting media forms of the filmmaker known best as Chris Marker. We will track the trans-media artist’s beginnings in more traditional modes of political action (organizing and education), to areas of political activity more typically associated with aesthetic and poetic modes (the essay film), to then unknown frontiers of social activity (Second Life, internet social networks), with an emphasis on the instability of the “finished product.” We will explore Marker’s use of anonymity, pseudonyms, avatars, and glyphs, with an eye toward their utility in searching for a media method capable of transcending the boundaries of political, artistic, and social norms. We will also highlight Marker’s subversion of typical filmmaking methods, which emphasize the role of planning, structure, and control (top-down creation) in favor of curiosity and exploration (level with the audience/subject matter). Readings will include examples of the travelogue beyond Marker (Roland Barthes, Guy Debord, and Teju Cole, among others). In addition to an intense study of this filmmaker’s forms, the final project will be a video essay in the spirit of this course’s concerns. [Tracks C, M, S]