Kurt Schwerdtfeger (Bauhaus Weimar): Reflecting Colour-Light-Play

Alternative title

Reflektorische Farblichtspiele

Synopsis

Though the Bauhaus wasn’t directly involved in all art forms, it nevertheless exerted interesting impulses, one example being Kurt Schwerdtfeger’s 1922 Reflektorische Farblichtspiele [Reflecting Colour-Light-Play]. Originally conceived as a play for one of the famous Bauhaus Lantern Festivals, it premiered at the Kandinsky home and had a profound effect on the spatial aspect of 20th century sculpture. At the same time it equals the German abstract films of the early 1920s and is a predecessor of performance art, light shows and expanded cinema. The Play was re-discovered and re-staged in the 1960s and has been in demand ever since. This film for the first time includes both the re-staged 1966 performance (no recordings of the 1922/23 ones exist) and a short documentary about the apparatus used for the Play.

The film includes a lengthy Talking Backgrounds documentary featuring Kurt’s son Stefan, - who was instrumental in setting up the 1966 re-staging and is a professor of architecture and an artist in his own right - and Michael Stoeber, renown German arts critic.

1.Reflektorische Farblichtspiele (1968), 18 min
2.Making Reflektorische Farblichtspiele (1968), 5 min
3.Talking Backgrounds (2009), 50 min

Language

German (Standard) (German with English subtitles)

Country

Germany

Year of release

2012

Year of production

2010

Subjects

Architecture; Art; Drama

Keywords

Bauhaus; performance art; magic lanterns

Online availability

URI

http://www.artfilms-digital.com//Detail.aspx?ItemID=4307

Price

£150 approx

Delivery

Streamed

Credits

Contributor

Michael Stoeber; Stefan Schwerdtfeger

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 0 NTSC

Price

£145.00

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

73 minutes

Year

2012

Distributor

Name

Artfilms-digital

Email

digital@artfilms.com.au

Web

http://www.artfilms-digital.com/ External site opens in new window

Phone

+61 03 9690 0666

Fax

+61 03 9690 0644

Address

213 Park Street
South Melbourne
Victoria 3205
Australia

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Artfilms Europe

Email

info@artfilms.com.au

Web

http://www.artfilms.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 208 265 1752

Fax

+44 207 117 5174

Address

PO Box 71507
London
SE10 1BY
United Kingdom

Notes

Artfilms Europe is the European distributor of the collection of Contemporary Arts Media, Australia (previously known as Hush Video). The collection originally specialised in drama and the performing arts but has since widened its remit across the arts spectrum to include visual arts, design, architecture, new media and digital arts in its collection of over 5,000 titles. Separate subject catalogues, printed or online in pdf format, are available for theatre, dance, visual arts, film & cinema, new media, music, performance art and communication & culture. Sale on DVD or streamed on a pay-per-view or subscription basis from www.artfiflms-digital.com. From 2015, private users can subscribe via a digital site licence for £8 per month, allowing access to a selection of 300 - 400 films.