Ursula Mayer + Aalto

VILLA MAIREA, Loop 3 min, Color HDV, 2006

www.ursulamayer.com

DIFFERENT SPACES ARE THE MAIN FOCUS IN MAYER'S PERFORMATIVE PRODUCTIONS, BECAUSE THEY SERVE AS BOTH A STAGE AS WELL AS A PLACE OF ACTION. IN TRILOGY (2005-2006), COMPRISED OF THE THREE SHORT FILMS, PORTLAND PLACE 33 (2005), KEELING HOUSE (2006) AND VILLA MAIREA (2006), URSULA MAYER PURPOSELY USES A SIGNIFICANT ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE AND MAKES THIS VISUAL LANGUAGE THE KEY ELEMENT IN THE FILMS. FOR INSTANCE, PORTLAND PLACE 33 PRESENTS A VICTORIAN BUILDING WITH HUGE, ALMOST BARE ROOMS. IN KEELING HOUSE THE ATTENTION IS FOCUSED ON A 1950S BLOCK OF FLATS IN LONDON, WHEREAS IN THE THIRD FILM, THE ARCHITECT ALVAR AALTO'S VILLA MAIREA IN FINLAND IS SHOWN. FRAGMENTED ACTIONS OF THE CONSTANTLY RE-APPEARING PERFORMER IN THE THREE FILMS DO NOT AMOUNT TO A STRINGENT STORY, HOWEVER THEY SERVE TO MAKE THE SCENE GAIN FICTIONAL CHARACTER. THE EYE OF THE CAMERA MOVES SLOWLY FROM ROOM TO ROOM CONTINUOUSLY FOCUSING ON THE NEW. BY DOING SO, THE ROOMS AND THE OBJECTS WITHIN THEM BECOME A WEB OF OPEN STORIES. STYLISTICALLY, URSULA MAYER DRAWS ON THE ITALIAN DIRECTOR MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI'S MANNERIST LANGUAGE. MOVEMENTS ARE ONLY HINTED AT OR NOT BROUGHT TO A CONCLUSION, AND THEY END ALMOST AS UNREMARKABLE AS THEY BEGAN. "MAYER'S TRILOGY DOESN'T TELL, DESCRIBE OR DOCUMENT ANYTHING. HER SUBJECT IS NOT THE PERFORMER BUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPACE, PERSON AND CAMERA."
(NINA SCHEDLMAYER, POTENTIAL DIALOGUE, RCM MUSEUM – KUNSTRAUM NOE, 2006)