MATTER AND MEMORY, FEELING AND FORM – A PHIL SOLOMON RETROSPECTIVE
“Reverse archaeology” is how Phil Solomon (1952–2019) described his work with film. Rather than uncovering an original image, he altered its materiality; he worked with images from Hollywood films as well as home movies, transforming and estranging them in order to make them visible anew. A cinema between abstraction and figuration, matter and memory, capable of conveying deep emotions even in radically experimental forms.
The Viennale retrospective is divided into five programmes. Three trace Solomon’s work, while two open up a view onto its context: influences, affinities, connections, and dialogues with contemporary filmmakers – as well as with younger filmmakers who continue and transform Solomon’s legacy. The latter includes a live Super 8 performance by Christian Farrell, which brings the physical dimension of cinema back to the centre – so that images from the past can take place anew in the present!
Curated by Mark McElhatten and with Eve Heller (co-curator) in attendance.
