Marcel Broodthaers

History

Marcel Broodthaers 1924-1976 Belgian poet, photographer, film-maker and artist. Born in Brussels. Began as a poet and aged 16-17 had some contacts with the Belgian Surrealists, especially Magritte, who gave him a copy of Mallarmé's Un Coup de Dés. (Magritte's paintings with words, in which there is a contradiction between the painted word and the painted object, were later a crucial influence on him). Started in 1958 to publish articles illustrated with his own photographs. At the end of 1963 decided to become an artist and began to make objects. First one-man exhibition at the Galerie St Laurent, Brussels, 1964. Exhibited everyday objects, words, lettering, child-like drawings etc., often with verbal-visual puns; made books, catalogues, prints on everything from canvasesattached to the wall to reliefs in plastic. Made his first film in 1957 and from 1967 a number of short films.

Movies

Here Is Always Somewhere Else

Himself

The life and work of enigmatic Dutch/Californian conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader, who in 1975 disappeared under mysterious circumstances at sea in the smallest boat ever to cross the Atlantic. As seen through the eyes of fellow emigrant filmmaker René Daalder, the picture becomes a sweeping overview of contemporary art films as well as an epic saga of the transformative powers of the ocean.

Monsieur Teste

Director

Short by Marcel Broodthaers.

The Last Voyage

Director

Short by Marcel Broodthaers.

A Voyage on the North Sea

Director

Marcel Broodthaers’ film and book, both titled A Voyage on the North Sea which were distributed together as part and parcel of the same publishing plot. The ostensibly related subject of both book and film consists mutually of 19th and 20th century nautical images including: 1. photographic reproductions and details of an amateur’s 19th century painting of a fleet of fishing ships and 2. photographs of a contemporary sailboat.

Figure Of Wax

Director

The figure of wax to which the title alludes is that of philosopher and jurist Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), one of the founders of the University of London. The film was shot over a period of two days in three locations: the hall of University College, London, where Bentham’s wax figure sits in a glass-fronted case; Oxford Street; and the City of London. Subtitles indicate a dialogue between Broodthaers and Bentham, in addition to a spoken commentary delivered by Charlotte Hardman. The film is accompanied by Broodthaers playing scales and music by Beethoven and Chopin on the piano.

Speakers Corner

Director

Short by Marcel Broodthaers.

Mauretania

Director

Short by Marcel Broodthaers.

Exercice

Director

Short by Marcel Broodthaers.

Au-delà de cette limite

Director

A Film by Charles Baudelaire (Political Map of the World)

Director

The film purports to be the second version of a (fictional) film made by Baudelaire in 1850 in memory of his (actual) voyage across the Pacific. It was shot using a world map mounted on black board, filmed in its entirety and in extreme close-up.

La signature

Director

Animation of Marcel B.'s signature

La Lune

Director

Short by Marcel Broodthaers.

Une Seconde D’éternité

Director

Short by Marcel Broodthaers.

Ceci Ne Serait Pas Une Pipe

Director

This is one of a series of films that Broodthaers made on the subject of the pipe, a reference to the work of René Magritte. A static camera depicts images of a pipe, clock, and smoke against a whitewashed brick wall. The superimposed titles were added in 1971, and include the labels ‘Figure I’ and ‘Figure II’, phrases that recur throughout Broodthaers oeuvre, and echo Magritte’s concern with the relationship between object, image and language.

Pipe Satire

Director

La Pluie (Projet Pour Un Texte)

Himself

The film shows Marcel Broodthaers trying to write while the rain constantly washes away the ink. In the final scene, during which the artist gives up and drops his pen, the inscription “Projet pour un texte” (Project for a text) appears.

La Pluie (Projet Pour Un Texte)

Director

Le corbeau et le renard

Director

A documentation of Marcel Broodthaers's exhibition Le Corbeau et le Renard at the Wide White Space Gallery, Antwerp.

3 Cartes Postales

Director

Short by Marcel Broodthaers.

La Clef de L'horloge (Poème cinémathographique en l’honneur de Kurt Schwitters)

Director

Broodthaers’s first film, Clef d’Horloge was made using a borrowed camera and some film stock that he had been given. It was shot at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, in 1956, during an exhibition of works by Kurt Schwitters. The film is made in negative and positive and is based on several works that were on display. It premiered on 23 April 1958 at ‘Filmexprmntlfilm’, an experimental film convention in Brussels.

Berlin Oder Ein Traum Mit Sahne

Director

Berlin scenery, intercut with scenes of Broodthaers smoking, reading, eating and daydreaming.

O-X

Director

Illustrates what initially seems to be a regular game of tic-tac-toe. As the film progresses, the text diverges from the image, moving from documentation to symbolic play.