Structural Studies

Wilhelm and Birgit HEIN have, since the mid-sixties, been pioneers of the European tradition of structural film-making, a tradition strongly grounded in the anti-art activities of the Austro-German ‘fluxus’ movement. The Hein’s concentration on the raw material of film has developed from this initial anarchic impact into a more rigorous examination of basic film images and basic film structure. Structural Studies is of particular interest in the way it suggests a recapitulation of this development: it incorporates sequences from this earlier work in its examination of this uniquely cinematic illusion of movement. The film includes sections which explore the illusion of movement within the frame, the movement created by the filming and projection equipment, of movement suggested by camera manipulation (e.g. zoom, re-focus, etc.). Structural Studies exemplified the Hein’s central project of elaborating the central process of the cinema, situating those processes equally in terms of artistic production and mechanical reproduction. – Deke Dusinberre, Edinburgh Film Festival Catalogue, 1976.
It aims at an investigation of film technique as the technique of film art, at disclosing this working process to the spectator in order to reveal the processes of creation and perception. -BIRGIT HEIN .