Film... School of Seeing I, Adria - Holiday films 1954-68
Interactive video installation at Vienna’s Westbahnhof
In the context of ART at RAIL, Kunsthalle Vienna, 2000
For this installation some selected sequences from the film “Adria” (16mm, 35mins, 1991) were edited anew and summarized in the following topical categories:
- literally and figuratively (4mins)
- back and forth (3mins40secs)
- left to right (3mins15secs)
- seek and follow (3mins30secs)
- laughing waving posing (2mins55secs)
- walking (2mins50secs)
- operating and acting (4mins35secs)
- glancing (2mins15secs)
Passersby could choose one of the 8 topics and start the corresponding sequence at the push of a button.
About the content:
ADRIA is an artistic analysis of film as a medium and of its meaning as SCHOOL OF SEEING.
The subjects of this analysis are the beginnings of Austria hobby and amateur film creation, restricted to holiday movies from the Adriatic Sea.
The footage was analyzed according to set focal points then dissected according to serial aspects and edited into new sequences. These sequences liberated from their individual isolation, thematically and formally restructured and unified in a sequence reflect the general situation, which was shared by many. This general situation reflects upon two aspects. One is the first active involvement with film as a medium - in front of and behind the camera - and the other aspect highlights social restructurings such as the first holiday abroad and organizing one’s leisure time. Therefore the private depiction of an individual situation becomes a document of a general situation.
The footage was provided by the families: Brunner-Szabo, Falkner, Fuchs, Gratzer, Halla, Holzinger, Krebs, Schipek, Stahl.
