Peter Kubelka
- 1934 Born in Vienna. Upbringing in Taufkirchen, an Upper Austrian farming village.
- 1941 A mobile cinema comes to the village and leaves a lasting impression.
- 1944–1947 Member of the Vienna Boys Choir.
- As of 1949 hitchhikes through most of Europe. Acquires several languages. Interest in music, literature, philosophy, ethnology; commences long process of liberation from religious indoctrination.
- 1949–1967 Competitive sports: track and field, judo.
- 1951 While still in high school decides to pursue filmmaking as a profession.
- 1952–1956 Studies film in Vienna and Rome.
- 1955 The rejection of his first film Mosaik im Vertrauen (Mosaic in Confidence) by the film establishment pushes him into the avant-garde.
- 1956 Participates with Mosaik im Vertrauen in the Biennale di Venezia for Vietnam.
- 1957–1960 Makes his metric films Adebar, Schwechater, Arnulf Rainer.
- 1958 First real film exhibition, Forum Alpbach: Adebar pinned onto wooden haystacks as a three-dimensional object.
- 1962 In desperation destroys the scores of his metric films.
- 1964 Co-founds the Austrian Film Museum.
- 1966 First visit to the USA. Finishes Unsere Afrikareise (Our Trip to Africa).
- As of 1966 de-specialization. Self-taught re-education. Teaches film at many American universities. Develops his theory on food preparation as the most ancient medium of communication, the „Edible Metaphor“.
- 1968 Cooking Concert in New York, also „Eating the Universe“, a TV lecture broadcast live on Channel 13.
- 1970 Co-founds Anthology Film Archives. Designs the Invisible Cinema.
- 1973 Restores Dziga Vertov‘s Enthusiasm.
- 1976 Establishes the collection of avant-garde cinema for the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
- 1978–1999 Professor for Cinema at the art academy Städelschule (Frankfurt, Germany).
- 1980 Changes the title of master class to „Film and Cooking“.
- 1980 Founds the musical ensemble Spatium Musicum. Concerts in Europe and USA.
- 1996 Establishes the cycle „What is Film“ for the Austrian Film Museum.
- 2012 makes his film „Antiphon“ and presents film projection and film installation
„Monument Film“.
Peter Kubelka‘s metric films preceded the international movement of structural cinema. His metaphoric films define a purely cinematographic language, articulated between the elements of sound and image. Kubelka is also known as a non-writing theorist, using non-verbal elements in his lectures, such as music, food, objects, tools, and facial expressions.
Filmography
- 2012 Antiphon
- 1996/2003 Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and Truth)
- 1975–1977 Pause!
- 1961–1966 Unsere Afrikareise (Our Trip to Africa)
- 1958–1960 Arnulf Rainer
- 1957–1958 Schwechater
- 1956–1957 Adebar
- 1954–1955 Mosaik im Vertrauen (Mosaic in Confidence)
Monument Film (2012)
Manifest – Download PDF
The World according to Kubelka
by Peter Tscherkassky
from Film Unframed
A History of Austrian Avant-Garde Cinema
FilmmuseumSynemaPublikation
Publication in English / edited by Peter Tscherkassky
368 pages. € 28,–
International Order: Columbia University Press
http://www.sixpackfilm.com/archive/news/film-unframed/film-unframed.html
http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-3-901644-42-9/film-unframed