Turbulent Screen – The Structural Movement in Film and Video

Turbulent Screen is a project in the form of an exhibition andcinema program that presents structural approaches in film and video art. In the 60s a new language of film emerged, which was labeled as the movement of »Structural Film«. The filmmakers constructed their films not according to narrative sequences, but along artistic principles which could be found in every area of contemporary art at the time – challenging perception, the materials of their media, the time-space parameter of film and the relationship between the viewer and the viewed. This experimentation with moving images in the film world was also mirrored in the new medium of video. Artists who began working with video in the late 60s and 70s were very much aware of what was happening on the front of moving images and forged new paths with playful and intelligent examinations of their own medium. Today, the approaches of decades past are being tapped and furthered by a younger generation of artists who are also featured in the Turbulent Screen project.

On opening night, the renowned Japanese multimedia artist Takahiko Iimura will turn back time by introducing his historical closed-circuit work Register Yourself (1973), and show what it means to be in the absolute present. Another highlight of the exhibition is the legendary film installation Two Sweeps (1977) by Pat O'Neill, featuring two pendulums sowing to rest, upside-down and backward, irritating perception. Michael Snow, arguably the most well-known of the classic structural filmmakers is forever young as he exhibits here his recent video installation That/Cela/Dat, proving a mastery of both the film and video medium. Jonathan Monk underscores the dry humor of the structural approach and grabs a baton passed on by a generation of pioneers with The Silent Tornado (for Jack Goldstein), a new 16mm film of Goldstein's 7" The Tornado recording.

Seven cinema programs including 80 films and videos will be screened over a period of 2 ½ months. Two programs are a special features for the Oldenburg Film Festival. An additional five screenings will be held at the Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art during the exhibition.

Each program features several short but intense works at 8 pm, followed by a break and a longer featured work at 10:30 pm. The "must-sees" of structural film and video such as the recently deceased Stan Brakhage and the Paul Sharits will be screened along with conceptional videoworks by Peter Campus and Joan Jonas. The classics are interspersed with works by younger artists, including Sharon Lockhart's new film NO. The Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art also offers a very special chance to see many works such as Tom Tom the Piper's Son by Ken Jacobs and Zorn's Lemma by Hollis Frampton which are rarely screened. This project will also search for structural elements in favorites Fluxus films by Yoko Ono, George Maciunas, John Cale and many others.

The artists in the film and video program are:
Marc Adrian, Eric Anderson, Kenneth Anger, Martin Arnold, Bruce Baillie, Scott Bartlett, Jordan Belson, Lynda Benglis, Stan Brakhage, Robert Breer, Dietmar Brehm, John Cale, Bruce Conner, Peter Campus, Kerstin Cmelka, Tony & Beverly Conrad, Douglas Davis, Ed Emshwiller, Valie Export, Albert Finne, Morgan Fisher, Hollis Frampton, Ernie Gehr, Peter Gidal, Wilhelm & Birgit Hein, Gary Hill, Tony Hill, Gerard Holthuis, Takahiko Iimura, Ken Jacobs, Joan Jonas, Joe Jones, Kurt Kren, Gunter Krüger, Peter Kubelka, Kerry Laitala, Owen Land, David Larcher, Standish D. Lawder, Malcolm LeGrice, lia, Sharon Lockhart, George Maciunas, Mara Mattuschka, Anthony McCall, Jonas Mekas, Matthias Müller, Werner Nekes & Dore O., Gunvar Nelson, Annabel Nicholson, Pat O'Neill, Yoko Ono, Dennis Oppenheim, Vivian Ostrovsky & Yann Beauvais, Nam June Paik, Ilppo Pohjola, David Priestman, Arnulf Rainer, Al Razutis, reMI, Liz Rhodes, David Rimmer, Józef Robakowski, Zbigniew Rybczynski, Paul Sharits, Chieko Shiomi, Michael Snow, John Stehura, Steina, Aldo Tambellini, Peter Tscherkassky, Stan Vanderbeek, Woody & Steina Vasulka, Bill Viola, Robert Watts, Chris Welsby & William Raban, James Whitney, Michael Whitney, Joyce Wieland