composition set // image transformed // mozart moved (Mozart Minute 07)

The idea was to transform a picture of Mozart on the basis of a “new” composition arranged with the musical dice game, sound-controlled manipulation and also a dismantling of the common clean and kitschy Mozart image (in other words the composer’s reputation). My image of Herr Mozart is reversed in the course of the film, representing in my opinion an opportunity to examine him from a different point of view: A postcard with a bright frontal view of Mozart turns into a rough, “decadent” picture which is older.
This turnaround within an extremely short period of time also represents a life (process), and decay.
The alteration is equivalent to a life cycle: The lush color at the beginning fades, the leaves shrivel, the tree disappears, the postcard with Mozart’s picture yellows and becomes a Mozart of stone. A figure for the ages.
The use of the stone Mozart monument in Vienna’s Burggarten seemed perfect to me in light of his membership in a Freemasons’ lodge: An expression used by Freemasons is “working on rough stone,” and this also applies to the shaping of a monument.
The manipulation on the musical level was inspired by the musical dice game as played during Mozart’s day. The composer himself wrote short pieces and rearranged the individual measures according to a roll of the dice.
The sound level of my film comprises short samples of passages from the violin concerto no. 3 and symphony no. 38. This “new” composition provided the raw material for my manipulation of the image.
In accordance with the meaning of the sound level, which is based on the musical dice game, Mozart’s hands throw the dice and play on the visual leve - though this is only intimated.
My work method was rather atypical in this case- in contrast to my previous structural approach and manner of dealing with visual material, I wanted something self-contained, flowing and whole.