Nitsch

1972 5mMovie

Using this performance as a frame of reference, Lassnig invents her own actions: A man (her neighbor Roger) is filmed lying stiffly on the ground, in a pose that evokes cult images of martyrdom such as Hans Holbein's The Body of Christ in the grave, or, as he puts on a gas mask, an allusion to the Vietnam War, which was still underway at the time of filming. Lassnig's images overlay scenes from Nitsch's rituals and actions, but also of artists who visit her studio and sit around the table in a sociable circle. Through double exposures, Lassnig himself gets involved in the action of concentrated intensity: Like a ritual comment, her crunk naked body appears in short sequences.