Abstract Film No. 1
VALIE EXPORT
Austrian, born 1940
1967-1968
A stapled sheet of typewritten text and ink drawings in which VALIE EXPORT lays out the materials and procedures for an 'Abstract Film No. 1,' using ink on typewritten paper to propose replacing celluloid with mirrors, water and projected light as the filmic medium.
It looks like a working score or lab notebook—an ink-drawn diagram of light rays and mirrors sits above dense German typewritten paragraphs, edged with hand annotations, torn paper overlaps and a pasted caption strip that together create a collage of technical instruction and creative planning.
This piece records an early expanded‑cinema score that refuses traditional celluloid and foregrounds material processes and projection, helping to chart late‑1960s experimental film and performance practices that dematerialized cinema and rethought how images and spectatorship are produced.
Medium
Ink on type-written paper, stapled to paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 11/16 x 8 1/4" (29.7 x 21 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
486.2011.2
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
