PETER KUBELKA

ARNULF RAINER

1960 - 6'30" - AUSTRIA - 16MM PROJECTION 

WHAT IS CINEMA WHEN REPRESENTATION DISAPPEARS? THIS FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION LIES AT THE HEART OF ARNULF RAINER, ONE OF THE DEFINING WORKS OF POSTWAR AVANT-GARDE FILM. DISPENSING ENTIRELY WITH NARRATIVE, IMAGERY, AND REPRESENTATION, KUBELKA REDUCES CINEMA TO ITS ELEMENTAL COMPONENTS: LIGHT, DARKNESS, SOUND, AND SILENCE. HIS ANSWER IS BOTH RADICAL AND PRECISE: CINEMA EXISTS THROUGH THE ORGANIZATION OF THESE ELEMENTS IN TIME. EACH FRAME AND SONIC EVENT FORMS PART OF A RIGOROUSLY STRUCTURED COMPOSITION IN WHICH RHYTHM, DURATION, AND PERCEPTION BECOME THE WORK'S PRIMARY CONCERNS. MORE THAN AN OBJECT OF VIEWING, ARNULF RAINER IS AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE MATERIAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE CINEMATIC MEDIUM AND REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM.