Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

This video was made for a commission EXPORT received from the Theater an der Wien opera house for an installation on the occasion of the Mozart Year 2010. It shows in short intervals various bars of music, behind each one changing number combinations - 13, 167, 123, 16, 4 etc. - and two dice that roll into the picture displaying various numbers of dots. EXPORT's hand can be seen now and then, reaching for the dice. The images are accompanied by melodies played on a soprano saxophone. The springboard for this video work is a manuscript attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart titled "Anleitung zum Componieren von Walzern vermittels zweier Würfel" ("Instructions for Composing Waltzes Using Two Dice"), published posthumously in 1793. Mozart's interactive composition piece is based on a system for a musical dice game invented in the mid-18th century which is the oldest known method for combining numbers with the help of a random generator, in this case, dice. In this video, EXPORT summons connections to earlier photographic works and installations in which dice and randomness play a central role.

VALIE EXPORT, Prof. Dr. h.c.media and performance artist, filmmaker born in Linz, lives and works in Vienna VALIE EXPORT’s artistic work comprises: video environments, digital photography, installation, body performances, feature films, experimental films, documentaries, Expanded Cinema, conceptual photography, body-material interactions, Persona Performances, laser installations, objects, sculptures, texts on contemporary art history and feminism. VALIE EXPORT is one of the most important pioneers on conceptual media art, performance and film. 1967 invention of her artist name VALIE EXPORT: an artistic concept and logo to be written in capital letters only VALIE EXPORT takes part at the documenta 12 2007, and documenta 6, 1977, in Kassel 1985 nomination of EXPORT's feature film “Die Praxis der Liebe”, screenplay and direction, for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival Since 1975 curatorial projects, international symposiums, exhibitions and film programmes Her works are in international collections like Centro Pompidou, Paris, Tate Modern, London, Reine Sophia, Madrid, MOMA, New York, MOCA, Los Angeles ect. Since 1968 participation in international exhibitions, for example: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Institute of Contemporary Art, London; Venice Biennale, Venezia; documenta, Kassel; MoCA, Los Angeles; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; MUMOK, Vienna; Generali Foundation, Vienna; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles; Tate Modern, London; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea; Metropolitan Museum, New York; ars electronica, Linz/Austria. Screenings at international film and video festivals, for example London Underground Film Festival; London International Film Festival; Filmex, Los Angeles; Berlin International Film Festival as well as film festivals in Cannes, Montréal, Vancouver, San Francisco, Locarno, Hongkong, Sydney, New York, etc.