Hito Steyerl: The City of Broken Windows

German artist, filmmaker and theorist Hito Steyerl (born 1966) has emerged as one of the most influential cultural figures of our time. She has published extensively, with essays such as “In Defense of the Poor Image” reaching “instant classic” status and books such as The Wretched of the Screen and Duty Free Art cementing her place in art-world discourse. And yet Steyerl’s art has not received the monographic treatment, until now.

The City of Broken Windows, published to accompany a new work of the same name at Castello di Rivoli, documents Steyerl’s installation exploring the process of teaching artificial intelligence how to recognize the sound of breaking windows. Using screens, windows, crystals and sound, Steyerl explores how AI affects the urban environment. The book features new essays by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Marianna Vecellio, Griselda Pollock and the artist herself, alongside images and a chronology of the artist’s exhibitions and lectures. Also included is an anthology of essays and interviews from 1998 to the present.