Werner von Mutzenbecher
2021Rom 70/71
Werner von Mutzenbecher
Werner von Mutzenbecher created Rom 70/71 with an Agfa Microflex super-8 camera, during a residency at the Istituto Svizzero (Swiss Institute) in Rome, from autumn 1970 to spring 1971. As he wanders the city streets in the afternoons, the artist captures, without any preconceived intentions, urbans details, or micro-events that draw his attention. Mutzenbecher describes Rom 70/71 as "reflex cinema" and develops a spontaneous form of filmed diary about a location, in this case a city, without focusing on human presence.
Rom 70/71
X/78 Rheinhafen
Werner von Mutzenbecher
A day at Basel's Rhine harbor during a time when the city was still characterized by industry. Changing light, reflections, moving shadows, and the undulating surface of the water dominate the film; images alternate between panoramic views of the port with its industrial plants and ships and close-up shots of bollards, quays, and individual parts of buildings. The calm images and the silence (the film lacks sound) convey a peaceful atmosphere that contrasts with the usually noisy industrial harbor.
X/78 Rheinhafen
XX/88, Pelczyn
Werner von Mutzenbecher
Pelczyn is a journey back to a childhood home in Poland's former Silesia region, a flowing sequence of images in restless Super-8 shots. Superimposition is a defining feature of the film; images are layered on top of each other and intertwine, creating profundity, sketching inner landscapes and interweaving fragments of memory and recollections.
XX/88 Pelczyn
1/68 Dinge
Werner von Mutzenbecher
Starting from indeterminate, large public spaces, the film focuses on the lines, corners, and openings of a barren apartment, eventually landing without lingering on used items, a cloth, crumpled paper. Many shaky doors swing shut, to be quickly replaced by others. Pressure and suction emerge spontaneously from the rooms in front of the observer's eyes. In the mundane: table legs, the dark tobacco end of a cigarette. The film brings life into being and ushers in light.
I/68 Dinge
