Transit Arts Lutz Mommartz: the breath of the sheep and the sea is infinitely beautiful

Please note this screening is now fully booked. If you have booked a ticket, and are no longer able to attend the screening, please contact the Box Office on 0141 352 4900, in person, or via gen@cca-glasgow.com

In the first comprehensive survey of German experimental filmmaker Lutz Mommartz in the UK, the breath of the sheep and the sea is infinitely beautiful delves into the artist’s extensive archive to present a series of his most chaotic, absurd, brilliant, and strange analogue experiments. This event is generously supported by the Goethe-Institut Glasgow and The Lutz Mommartz Film Archive.

This free screening event will include an introduction from curator Marcus Jack, a newly commissioned performance responding to the archive from Berlin- and Glasgow-based artist Carrie Skinner, and a live Q&A session with Lutz Mommartz, archivist Stefan Silies, and Marcus Jack.

Lutz Mommartz (b. 1934, Erkelenz) began working with 16mm film in 1967 whilst working for local government in Düsseldorf. In the same year Mommartz was awarded for his work Selbstschüsse at EXPRMNTL 4 (Festival du Film Expérimental de Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium), an event since credited as a turning point in the spread of structuralist and avant-garde film across Europe. Its influence was felt in the tentative formation of a European Filmmakers Co-op and markedly on the members of the London Filmmakers Co-op, now LUX. From 1978 to 1999 Mommartz taught at the Kunstakademie Münster as the Professor of Film. Mommartz now lives and works between Düsseldorf and Berlin.

Throughout his prolific career Mommartz’ practice has repeatedly encircled the figure, sometimes disembodied, sometimes marked by absence; critical to this process is a will to collaborate. Included among these collaborators are the artists Joseph Beuys, Tony Morgan, and Ludwig Chateau; actors Renate Meves and Eddie Constantine; and musicians Mama Woju.

The Lutz Mommartz Film Archive is available to view with Creative Commons licence on the Internet Archive and is administrated by Till Nachtmann, Stefan Silies, and Kai Kraatz.

This event is generously supported by the Goethe-Institut and The Lutz Mommartz Film Archive.