Head [Films in Progress]

An exercise in self-analysis, Kopf (“head”) centers on a sculptural bust depicting the young Lassnig’s likeness. the head appears in stop motion animation as it rolls through a garden, seemingly of its own accord. It dons various props, including a man’s hat as well as a traditional headdress from the artist’s native region of Carinthia, located in the Eastern Austrian Alps. Lassnig films herself in front of early self-portraits and portraits of her parents, alluding to the familial and cultural inheritances that inform her own personality and psyche. An unflinching, direct, and autobiographical film, Kopf visualizes the artist’s interior imaginings of her life, projecting forward to its conclusion. (Jocelyn Miller)

Final cut by Maria Lassnig. Color correction completed posthumously by Mara Mattuschka and Hans Werner Poschauko.
Soundtrack: Anton Webern’s Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7, from Lassnig’s own music collection.

Digitization by the Austrian Film Museum. This film was preserved and restored by the Maria Lassnig Foundation in collaboration with the Austrian Film Museum.