Testfilm Censorship

The film is by Ernst Schmidt Jr. "with Krista Krumbiegel". The poet and performance artist (* 1944), also known as Denec-Krumbiegel, can be seen here performing the eponymous acts of censorship in a serial manner in an old apartment.             The background or context to the 1984 film is probably this: In May 1984, Krumbiegel and Schmidt Jr. took part in the symposium Trendwende und Zensur (Turning Point and Censorship) at the Graz Authors' Assembly (alongside Ernest Bornemann, Gustav Ernst, Lotte Ingrisch, Gerhard Ruiss, Peter Turrini, Susanne Zanke, among others), and in 1985 Krumbiegel published the symposium documentation Geknebelte Gesellschaft (Gagged Society).             
The listing as a "Probefilm", test film, refers to the experimental nature of Krumbiegel's actions in the joint four-minute film: She repeats her gestures and movements several times, looks into the camera again and again, and starts over, as if for test shots of a film with a plot.            
Censorship is here a politically charged word – and one with a history in Viennese work biographies –, a term for various gestures and actions shown in the film that prevent something from being seen. These range from removing (namely socks from a loudspeaker) and covering (pictures on the wall with her hands, objects with sheets) to turning her head away and finally to small manipulations of light: Krumbiegel shuts window blinds, her appearance changing from body to silhouette, and by switching off a spotlight, she suddenly appears in semi-darkness, her light blue jeans looking ultramarine. Schmidt Jr.'s practice of cinematically pushing the limits of colour impressions and (in)visibilities takes the form of a montage in pre-cinematic space here. (Drehli Robnik)