Ernst Schmidt Jr.

This film is a kind of anthology about Vienna, from the invention of film to the present day. The aim is to break down the usual clichéd "image of Vienna" such as that found in the traditional "Vienna Film" by juxtaposing documentary footage, newly shot material and subjective sequences created by various artists. Individual, self-contained sections of the film gain new meaning within the context of historical material. Familiar sites appear estranged when edited together with historical scenes. Other scenes appear like a persiflage or satirical. The film does not incorporate any commentary whatsoever. It is a collage of diverse materials aimed at conveying a distanced image of Vienna to the viewer

On the 28th of October 1884 Daniel Paul Schreber, candidate of the National Liberal Party in Chemnitz, suffered a heavy defeat at the elections of the German Reichstag. He was taken up in the mental clinic of the Leipzig University soon afterwards. To his rehabilition he wrote an extensive piece of work, "Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken" (Memoirs of My Nervous Illness), which was published in 1903 and led to his temporary dismissal. Hereby Schreber became the most quoted psychiatric patient in scientific literature. This second part was finished after Ernst Schmidt Jr. death by his assistant Susi Praglowski.

A guy having sex with a woman on a rooftop – just to get her coffee-machine.

On the 28th of October 1884 Daniel Paul Schreber, candidate of the National Liberal Party in Chemnitz, suffered a heavy defeat at the elections of the German Reichstag. He was taken up in the mental clinic of the Leipzig University soon afterwards. To his rehabilition he wrote an extensive piece of work, "Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken" (Memoirs of My Nervous Illness), which was published in 1903 and led to his temporary dismissal. Hereby Schreber became the most quoted psychiatric patient in scientific literature. The third part was realized by Peter Tscherkassy based on a concept by Ernst Schmidt Jr.

‘Kunst & Revolution is a documentation on the famous action known as the “filthy uni mess”, which led to a jury court trial. I only had a few metres of film with me and they were quickly spent, but still the film gives one a rough impression of the events. As a whole mythology quickly arose around the event, I altered the material to counteract this effect (through repetition, and adding other material, for instance from a film about keeping dogs, and my own leftover footage from the Muehl action number 54 ‘Im Freudenauer Wasser’).’ In film 16 of his anthology Ernst Schmidt Jr. documented the actions of Günter Brus, Otto Muehl, Peter Weibel and Oswald Wiener.

Baron Childerich III of Bartenbruch considers himself to be a descendant of the Merovingian dynasty and he has drawn up a chart of marriages and adoptions which show that he is his own father, grandfather, father-in-law, and son-in-law. He aims at achieving the "total family" based on one man. He persuades his french relative, Pippin, to help him. But the latter lets him down and breaks up the family... Among those who belong to the (surrounding) world of the Baron are Dr. Döblinger, a writer, who has formed a band of muggers and Professor Horn, a psychiatrist, who quiets his patients by leading them on nose rings and beating them up... Family satire with numerous personal and literary allusions based on the novel of the Austrian writer, Heimito von Doderer.

On the 28th of October 1884 Daniel Paul Schreber, candidate of the National Liberal Party in Chemnitz, suffered a heavy defeat at the elections of the German Reichstag. He was taken up in the mental clinic of the Leipzig University soon afterwards. To his rehabilition he wrote an extensive piece of work, "Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken" (Memoirs of My Nervous Illness), which was published in 1903 and led to his temporary dismissal. Hereby Schreber became the most quoted psychiatric patient in scientific literature. This first part of the project, originally conceived as a long feature film, was finished while Ernst Schmidt Jr. was still alive.

(for Ernst Schmidt jrs. trilogy Memories of a Nervous Illness, part 1 & part 2) 1987/88, 16mm (S 8 blow up), á 4 min, colour & b/w

This film has two parts. In the first part, the film material is on 8mm uncut film, so that in the 16mm projection a 4-fold film can be seen. In the second part of the film, the 16mm film is shown in full size, that means the picture is now enlarged four times its size. I drew over the film after the fact, and abstracted it in many different ways. (E.S.jr.)

In May 1965, Ernst Schmidt Jr. films the Otto Muehl performances Rumpsti Pumsti and Body Building. In this period Muehl conceives his actionist works almost exclusively for photographic and film documentation. The necessity of a spontaneous confrontation with the public, which plays a major role in Muehl's later actions, does not apply to these works.

A person sticks it out for 24 hours in front of the camera. Every ten minutes a short clip was recorded, 8 frames per second (which is then projected at a speed of 24 f.p.s.). The tiredness of 24 hours in a time lapse of 4 minutes. (E.S.jr.)

This film includes shots from Silberarsch (Silver Arse; the 16th material action by Otto Muehl, 1965), Bimmel-Bammel (Ding-Dong; MuehlŽ s 17th material action, 1965). Gehirnoperation (Brain Operation; MuehlŽ s 22nd material action, 1965, with Günter Brus) as well as Aus der Mappe der Hundigkeit (Out of the Folder of Dogginess) by Valie Export and Peter Weibl. Valie takes Weibel, who crawls on all fours, on a walk along the Kärntnerstraße in Vienna (February 1968), the film also includes a few cuts out of diverse amateur films, among others a film by Walter Funda on dog breeding. Wild montage, destruction through painting-over of the film.

Conceptual overabundance was contrasted with nothing in Nothing, which, as the title promises, was nothing. Two years later, when Schmidt Jr. wanted to produce a film version of Nothing consisting of a whiteness that was gradually and imperceptibly to shift to black, the film lab thought the negative was faulty and stayed with the original, that is: it copied – nothing. (Peter Tscherkassky)

At a party, which was organized for Wendy, each person invited brought a photo of themselves. Each photo was filmed according to a strict scheme: each 7 frames, 5 frames, 3 frames and 1 frame (1/24 of a second) long, and then intercut with the other photos. (E.S.jr.)

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ - each letter is one frame (1/24 of a second) long and each letter originates from a company sign. The film shows the paradoxical relationship between film and written language. (E.S.jr.)

A reconstruction of the "concept film," which Gertrude Stein ("a rose is a rose is a rose") suggested to Charlie Chaplin in the 1920s. (E.S.jr.)

On the 28th of October 1884 Daniel Paul Schreber, candidate of the National Liberal Party in Chemnitz, suffered a heavy defeat at the elections of the German Reichstag. He was taken up in the mental clinic of the Leipzig University soon afterwards. To his rehabilition he wrote an extensive piece of work, "Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken" (Memoirs of My Nervous Illness), which was published in 1903 and led to his temporary dismissal. Hereby Schreber became the most quoted psychiatric patient in scientific literature.

With P.R.A.T.E.R. Schmidt turned his attention to the place where, once, the medium first came into existence (the Prater is P.R.A.T.E.R. is marked by a strongly repetitive flow. Schmidt's prime interest lies with people, their facial expressions and manner of looking. The film is in two parts; while the first acts as an exposé of the main themes, treatment and disintegration of these themes is intensified in the second part.

This is a film with minimal content. Using a film pen, a line was drawn across a strip of clear leader, until it hit the edge of the frame ("cheers"), and then the line was drawn back to the other side ("cheers"), etc. This strip functioned as the film negative. The projection is the drawn out line as a white line that wanders back and forth, bringing light and darkness into the theater. Because of this one should not only watch the movie screen, but also the light that comes out of the projector and the reflections in the theater. A "light play." (E.S.jr.)

Material actions: Otto Muehl. Montage of left-over film material from film scraps, amateur films, film leaders, recordings of material happenings, etc. Edited according to an exact plan (60 blocks of 10 takes each), then largely drawn over. My most destructive film, the "model for a futuristic newsreel."