BKA Kunst

A look at avant-garde filmmaker Marie Menken.

A woman goes to bed, falls asleep, and begins to dream. This dream takes her to a landscape of light and shadow, evoked in a form only possible through classic cinematography. An homage to Man Ray, dedicated to the beginning of the European avant-garde film within the surrealist movement.

Daily routine in an empty restaurant car on a long-distance train. Deserted tables, a slow-moving staff. The waiter leans at the window, unhurriedly cleaning his fingernails. The cook and the waitress bide their time patiently. Gestures of waiting. Communication no longer seems necessary, as the well-coordinated routine functions smoothly without it. Only the train´s clattering on the rails is audible - an monotonous and soothing sound. This monotony is echoed in the forced lethargy of the restaurant-car staff. It seems to be a ghost train, a train without passengers. Then the tableau comes alive as if wakened by an inaudible signal. The three figures begin to sweep and wipe: The car must be cleaned thoroughly before it reaches the terminus.

At the end of 1996 in an old shop in Vienna specialising in film materials I found a tin with indeterminable pieces of 16mm film showing much wear and tear. They dated from the late 60s. After a cursory glance I thought 'yes'. The found footage material was ideal for the horror series. Corridor is the 5th film in the horror series "Black Garden‘ along with The Murder Mystery (1987/92), Blicklust (1992), Party (1995), Macumba (1995/96).

Organics begins with the observation of a Zorro mask and a distorted / veiled woman's face. A shot of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris develops into a women's foot scene which leads to a longer kiss scene punctuated by an explosion, falling leaves, a tank, touching hands, a hand in a plaster cast, bunches of grass and a dark cellar door. After observation of a skeleton detail, the found footage actors become involved in slowly feeling each others body. A man swings a necklace back and forth like a pendulum, a head being bandaged, attempts at face make-up, details of operations... in a flickering, pumping screen light until, in the end, "Hey Joe" centres the picture briefly with his penis. After the hand movements which follow, the veiled face of a woman appears again, longer this time, to be observed by "Hey Joe" until the film floodlight is turned off.