Contemporary Art Daily

Alex Wissel & Jan Bonny, excerpt from Single, 2015, film

Studio for Propositional Cinema, excerpts of CUT!…, Speech by Studio for Propositional Cinema delivered by Fabian Stumm

Images:

Images and videos courtesy of Studio for Propositional Cinema, Dusseldorf and MUMOK, Vienna

Press Release:

WE ARE A PARASITE ON A PARASITE. WE ARE A SCAFFOLD ON THE FACADE. WE ARE THE SMOKE LINGERING AFTER THE FIRE. WE ARE THE TERMITES IN THE BEAMS.
IN ADVANCE OF AN EARTHQUAKE, EVEN THE LEECHES QUIVER.
FROM INSIDE WE HAVE SEEN WHAT IT IS MADE FROM. WE HAVE EATEN WHAT IT EATS. WE HAVE SWUM IN THE BILE & SCALED THE LINING & RETURNED TO MOBILIZE­ — TO IMMOBILIZE IT FOR GOOD.
WE ARE A PARASITE. WE ARE THE GAS LEAKING INTO THE EMPTINESS. WE ARE A TANGLE OF WIRES & WE ARE TESTING THE VARIABLES. WE ONLY NEED ONE SPARK.
WE ARE NOT UNDERGROUND. WE ARE THE TAINTED SOIL: ACIDIC & BARREN, LIKE QUICKSAND. HERE WE WILL BUILD A STRUCTURE UPON WHICH STRUCTURES CAN BE PLACED. FROM HERE WE WILL MULTIPLY & CIRCULATE UNTIL WE TOO ARE TAKEN DOWN.
WE ARE A PARASITE ON THE INSTITUTION OF CINEMA, AN INSTITUTION OF PARASITES. WE SUCK THE LIFE BECAUSE WE LOVE LIFE.

Opening speech:

CUT!

AS YOU CELEBRATE, WE PLAN YOUR DEMISE. YOUR WORDS AND IMAGES ARE A SCOURGE WE MUST MAKE OBSOLETE.

STUDIO FOR PROPOSITIONAL CINEMA IS THE WETLAND UPON WHICH YOU ARE BUILT. EVERYTHING YOU BUILD MAKES YOUR SURFACE LESS VIABLE. WE WILL TAKE YOU UNDER WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT US.

CUT!

ACTION!

CUT!

YOUR ROLES AS DIRECTORS, AS PRODUCERS, ARE NO LONGER TENABLE. THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY A DIRECTOR MUST BE A POLICEMAN, A MIDWIFE, A PSYCHOANALYST, A SYCOPHANT, AND A BASTARD. WE SAY A DIRECTOR MUST BE THE LAYER OF GRIME UPON WHICH THE SOOT AND THE SKIN-FLAKES OF CULTURE FALL.

FILM IS A BATTLEGROUND AND YOU ARE LOSING. YOUR FILMS CAN NO LONGER FUNCTION WITHIN OUR IMPOSED CONDITIONS.

OUR CONDITIONS ARE AS SUCH:

1. FILMMAKERS ARE NOT POLITICIANS. THEY MUST NOT MANIPULATE THE THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS OF THEIR AUDIENCE FOR THEIR PERSONAL GAIN.

2. FILMMAKERS ARE NOT MAGICIANS. THEY MUST NO LONGER HIDE THEIR ANEMIC IMAGES BEHIND TEMPORAL STRUCTURES AND THEIR WORDS BEHIND FALSITIES.

3. YOUR MONEY IS THE POISON THAT YOU HAVE MADE US CONSUME. A FILM SHOULD NOT COST MORE THAN IT IS WORTH.

4. THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE FORM OF FICTION IS THAT WHICH DE-MYSTIFIES FALSE STRUCTURES.

5. THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE FORM OF LIES ARE THOSE WHICH SERVICE SUCH FICTIONS.

6. FILM IS A PETRIFIED FOUNTAIN OF THOUGHT. IT MUST NO LONGER BE USED AS A VEHICLE FOR UNTHINKINGNESS.

WE THEREFORE PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING TERMS:

1. NO INCONSEQUENTIAL IMAGES. EVERY PRESENTED IMAGE MUST BE DETERMINED AS CULTURALLY ADDITIVE OR MUST REMAIN UNMADE OR UNSEEN.

2. NO INCONSEQUENTIAL LANGUAGE. EVERY WORD MUST BE DETERMINED AS CULTURALLY ADDITIVE OR MUST REMAIN UNWRITTEN OR UNHEARD.

3. IT IS NO LONGER VIABLE TO EXPLOIT HUMAN LABOUR FOR THE PRODUCTION OF IDEOLOGY,.

4. IT IS NO LONGER VIABLE TO EXPLOIT HUMAN LABOUR AS MOUTHPIECES FOR IDEOLOGY.

5. IT IS NO LONGER VIABLE TO ENLIST THE AUDIENCE AS RECEIVERS OF IDEOLOGY.

THE NEW CONDITIONS BEGIN WITH A REFUSAL TO USE IMAGES AND LANGUAGE TO REIFY DOMINANT IDEOLOGY TO OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.

THE ESSENCE OF ROMANCE IS UNCERTAINTY. WE ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH FREEDOM.

TRUTH IS A MYTH PLACED UPON CULTURE TO OBFUSCATE UNFREEDOM. WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN TRUTH, WE ARE INTERESTED IN FREEDOM FROM LIES.

NIGHT IS PURER THAN DAY. WE WANDER AROUND THE NIGHT AND ARE HACKED APART BY PICK AXES.

WHEN YOU SAY “ACTION!”, WE SAY “CUT!”.

WHEN YOU SAY “CUT!”, WE SAY “ACTION!”.

ACTION!

Program:

Wednesday, November 18

6:00–7:00 pm

Fulcrum Films

Peter Miller

7:00–8:00 pm

Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff

8:00–9:00 pm

Show Real Drama

Keren Cytter

Thursday, November 19

12:00 am–6:00 pm

Intermission. A Charade in Two Short Acts

Sarah Kürten

7:00–8:00 pm

Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs

Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr

9:00–10:00 pm

Heavy Flow

Feminist Land Art Retreat

Friday, November 20

10:00 am–2:00 pm

One Film (Approximately 3.5 minutes in length) will be shown, rewound and shown again

Christopher Williams

3:00–4:00 pm

Presentation of the publication We Are a Parasite on the Institution of Cinema, An Institution of Parasites, published by A.P.E. Art Projects Era, and other recent publications by participating artists (with readings by Yael Salomonowitz and Alex Wissel)

6:00–10:00 pm

Single

A film by Alex Wissel & Jan Bonny

Link: STUDIO FOR PROPOSITIONAL CINEMA at MUMOK