Catalogue > At random

The face is usually the expressive surface which marks a person`s identity. "Face" does not, however, just refer to the human face, but could also mean the face of a building: the façade that "adorns" a building. In Sasha Pirker`s so-named short film, shot on 16 mm using a hand-held camera, these two meanings come at one another from diametrically opposed positions. On one hand Pirker is trying to show the building as a whole, plucking out individual fragments in an entirely subjective manner; fragments which the viewer then has to piece together. One clue to this interpretation is a quote by the artist Birgit Baldasti which flashes up right at the start: "If I was a poet I?d say that pleasure lies in other people refining your own imagination." On the other hand Pirker selects the clips of the building such that the individual faces of the passers-by remain hidden. In THE FACE all entities, both architectural and human, exist without their primary identifying feature: their face. Metaphorically only the eyes, mouth, nose and ears of the architecture can be seen, while people are generally cut off, or are filmed in silhouette from behind. The framing means that each image in the film just shows a clipping: here, there is no longer any suggestion of anything being shown as a whole. In Sasha Pirker`s view, the architectural elements are also given sculptural accents. At the same time, Pirker juggles with views from within and without, bringing out the limited, snippet-like view and precisely thus firing the imagination. Almost incidentally she also succeeds in connecting the gallery space and the street ? the primary aim of the two men of action Vito Acconci and Steven Holl when they renovated the façade of the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC) in 1993. (Dietmar Schwärzler) Translation: Anne Koth

Sasha Pirker, artist/filmmaker, born 1969 in Vienna, Austria. Studies in Linguistics in Vienna/Austria. From 1995-2000 she worked as a curator of contemporary architecture at the Architecture Center Vienna (Az W). Since 2006 she is a teaching member at the department ?Video and Videoinstallation? at the University of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. Her films are distributed by sixpackfilm Vienna, www.sixpackfilm.com (selection) 2011 Retrospective ?Philosopher of Space? at the VIENNALE - Vienna International Filmfestival 2010 67. Mostra Internazionale d?Arte Cinematografica, La Biennale di Venezia/I