Body Building

synopsis

The film documents Materialaktion nr. 19 by Viennese actionist Otto Muehl. The performers' bodies, covered in mushy and powdery substances, are transformed into pieces of meat; their positions, props, and methods of submission change rapidly. The film itself undergoes the same degree of destruction, with positives, negatives, and blank film layered haphazardly, accompanied by a wildly fluctuating sound collage.

“Bodybuilding reads like the early formulation of an aesthetic programme that aims to destroy traditional cinema.” — Peter Tscherkassky, Die rekonstruierte Kinematografie, in: Horwath/Ponger/Schlemmer (Hrsg.), Avantgardefilm Österreich

Source: https://www.sixpackfilm.com/en/catalogue/214

biography

Ernst Schmidt Jr. (1938–1988) was an Austrian filmmaker, dramaturge, and theorist of experimental cinema. He was one of the central figures of Austrian avant-garde film in the 1960s and 1970s. Between 1965 and 1979, he created the series 20 Aktions- und Destruktionsfilme, which includes Bodybuilding (1965). In the mid-1960s, he replaced Kurt Kren as the “court documentarian” of actionist Otto Muehl. His written legacy, stored at the Mumok museum in Vienna, includes materials for an extensive film encyclopaedia that Schmidt Jr. worked on for many years.

film details

director:

Ernst Schmidt jr.