• Images (11)
• Links (0)
• Agenda (0)

ZWÖLF BOXKÄMPFER JAGEN VIKTOR QUER ÜBER DEN GROßEN SYLTER DEICH 140 9
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

by Johann LURF 2009 / 35mm / color / sound / 1S / 3' 00

The green opening credits race across the screen so fast that the only way to read everything is by pausing the film. The scenes that follow are cut even shorter: Each consists of solely a single frame taken from other films, reproduced carefully, including the sprocket holes, and mounted in sequence. When projected in the normal way they are 1/24 seconds in length, and they are all differentiated so clearly that the succession creates a kind of flickering, which is rhythmically synchronized with the stuttering of the somewhat fragmentary optical soundtrack. This makes it difficult to tell who is a boxer, who Viktor is, and where the dike of Sylt is located.
At the same time Johann Lurf’s super-short cuts appropriate the structure of a classic feature film. In the twitchy editing the individual frames deconstruct the normal sequence: The passage with various black frames⎯which serves as a kind of leader⎯is followed by another with fragments of a number of opening credits, then snippets of locations, possibly from establishing shots. Then come individuals or groups of two or more people, posing inside or outside, walking, driving cars, making music or having sex. Here and there subtitles appear suddenly, here and there a star can be recognized. But whether Charlotte Rampling, Klaus Kinski, wet asphalt, Kubrik’s The Shining, a box terrier or the sky: Everything possesses the same contingency. There is no dialogue, no shot/countershot, no chase ensues after these brief appearances. On the contrary, Lurf’s thesis film has a great deal in common with the found-footage experiments made by artists of the American neo-avant-garde, such as Morgan Fisher or Bruce Conner, though the way Lurf accelerates his visual salvoes is undoubtedly intended to produce ambiguity between media-specific reflection and overwhelming the audience.

2 PRINTS IN DISTRIBUTION

distribution format	35mm
screen	1,85 - Panoramic (single screen)
speed	24 fps
sound	optical sound
rental fee	32,00 €

distribution format	DCP on server (INTEROP 2K)
screen	1,85 - Panoramic (single screen)
speed	24 fps
sound	sound
rental fee	32,00 €