directors lounge special screening
Petra Lottje + Curtis Burz
auf der spur - on track
video works
Thursday, 29 Sept 2011
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
Directors Lounge presents a programme with Petra
Lottje and Curtis Burz. The artists have the
differing backgrounds of Fine Art practice, and
the documentary tradition of European Cinema
consecutively, and they both address the problems
of social relations. These relations may be seen
as "on track" or "off track". It is ambivalent as
the specific uses of media and recordings open
the work for different interpretations. In both
bodies of work we may find a very personal take
on their subject and a strong artificiality in
the produced media images.
In "Jedes Zimmer Hinter Einer Tür" (Every Room
Behind A Door) Petra Lottje stages the female
part of dialogues in diverse films, using the
German dubbing voices and borrowing her lips to
the sound like it is practice with the "playback
mime singers" on TV. However, the lip-sync is not
perfect in some parts, the settings seems not to
fit correctly but still, and over time, the
viewer gets the impression of honest enacting
instead of parody. One reason for that impression
may be the very understated acting of Petra
Lottje. Her minimal gestures and mimic, reminding
of Buster Keaton, leave ample space for
projections by the viewer. (Buster Keaton's
"poker face" was a novelty in cinema at that
time. Some film critics see him as the starting
point of modern cinema, where the actor on
close-up shows only minimal expressions in order
to become the mirror for emotional projections by
the viewers). Thus over time of watching the film
"Jedes Zimmer Hinter Einer Tür" and the programme
as a whole, the acting of Lottje seems to become
more and more "real".
The distinct kind of artificiality of Curtis
Burz's film creates a similarity to Petra Lotje's
work. The stories, told by individuals, turn into
fiction, and in some ways become role models.
Curtis uses this technique mainly for protection
of his interview partners, to keep their
anonymity. Partly, he also shoots on original
locations, which gives the pictures an
authenticity the viewer can feel, on the other
hand, it also reminds of TV techniques. The kind
of artificiality, however, does not dilute the
stories, but transforms them into short fiction,
with the result of the viewer having the choice
to identify, or not to do so. In any case, Petra
Lottje also has shifted her subject from the
every dominating theme of Hollywood, love, to the
questions of perspectives in life. ("Vorher,
Jetzt & Später" / Before, Now and Later and
"Loope"). As a conclusion, with their work both
artists address the reality of media, which has
such a deep impact on our view of the world, and
of life. More over, if we read Burz's stories as
fiction, the interpretation could go further
saying that the story side-lines, which in
mainstream and soap films just give some spicy
colourful backgrounds to the plot, really are
stories that should be told from their own
first-person point of view.
(Klaus W. Eisenlohr Sept 2011)
More infos:
http://www.richfilm.de/filmUpload/1-framesLottje.html
Artists Links:
Petra Lottje:
http://www.lottje.de
Curtis Burz:
https://www.facebook.com/IchHabeDirNieErzaehltWomitIchMeinGeldVerdiene
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
--
Klaus W. Eisenlohr, Osnabrücker Str. 25, D-10589 Berlin, Germany
email: klaus_at_richfilm.de
and film production: http://www.richfilm.de
phone: int.- 49 - 30 - 3409 5343 (BERLIN)
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Received on Tue Sep 27 2011 - 16:01:39 CDT
