Graz Reininghaus

Lost people in a built environment

Nicole Pruckermayr and Lotte Schreiber (right) in the exhibition in Graz Reininghaus(Bild: M. Reichart)

The Styrian Cultural Initiative invites you to the second interim use of the Graz Reininghaus district. Lotte Schreiber's film rooms can be experienced until the end of August in as yet unfinished premises right next to the park. An exhibition with goosebumps factor.

Lotte Schreiber's medium is film, even if she interprets its boundaries generously and includes books as well as collages or performative elements. The result is always fascinating and often gives you goosebumps. These can currently be experienced in the exhibition "I Cast my Gaze" in the Reininghaus district of Graz. The program naturally includes a dedicated cinema, where both older and brand new films by the artist can be seen.

One of these brand new films is "Dreamhome Headache", which Schreiber shot partly on the mega construction site in the Reininghaus district. It will have its world premiere at the opening on July 5 from 6 pm. Not only this film, but also the accompanying works "Die Spekulation" (three large-format images on plastic tarpaulin) and "Run Run Run Run" (a two-part loop) deal with the forlornness of man and his vulnerability in the face of huge construction projects.

Film still from "Dreamhome Headache"(Bild: Lotte Schreiber)

Also impressive is the installation "Behind BORGATE", which not only explores the Roman district conceived under Mussolini and built in the post-war period, as well as the films shot there by Fellini and Pasolini, but also makes all the preparatory work visible with already nostalgic devices.

An oppressive, poetic memorial
Schreiber conceived the film "If I had land under my feet" as a temporary memorial. In it, she gives body and face to the statistics that list refugees who have drowned in the Mediterranean. Distressing and touching, but also very poetic. The books that she created for the NSK (New Slovenian Art) pavilion at the Venice Biennale are also disturbing. Whether it's "Lay Down Your Arms", "The Opposite Sex" or "Mein Kampf", which she reinterpreted as a fight against nationalism, the desired entries by exhibition visitors are deeply moving.

The clip "Mein Vaterland", which plays with nationalist expectations, is appealing, as are the collages that lift film figures out of context and create new connections.

Many of Schreiber's works are based on quotes from famous people, even an entire film such as "Sometimes you think because it has stood the test of time. Wittgenstein's House" is based on this. Like eight other films, it will be shown in the exhibition's movie theater.

A film performance on Saturday, July 6, between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. invites visitors to interact when it comes to making a statement on democracy. The exhibition itself runs until the end of August every Thursday from 5 to 9 pm (and by appointment: [e-mail]) at "Mirror", Reininghauspark 2a.