Black Maria

F: If I may say something about that... One thing I can always count on is feeling ashamed. I can count on it, always. Yes, that's all.

B: What is "legal photographic realism" supposed to mean?

K: In contrast to how "visibility" is currently being discussed, the point should be that women are just as invisible as white men. That anything at all which is marked can be unclear. It would mean a visual policy that puts everything in darkness, taking it out of the light and making it non-transparent. You would have to insist on a better representation of the world, one that isn't exhausted in search of representation. In a regime of over-illumination, of realism, in other words, the white man is invisible. There is a view that strives to represent and, at the same time, to escape representation, while wanting a completely transparent depiction of the world. But to to be able to compete with the voraciousness of the eye, the point is to be "not visible". 

A: Visibility and invisibility are never symmetrical. Privilege clearly lies with invisibility. You'd have to be as invisible as white men. And if visibility was worth anything, I'd really be a part of it. But the point is: being invisible like white guys. Yes, and of course I also understand that "visibility" is a must, and that, in order to advocate equality, an attitude in favour of visibility has to be critical, but that the asymmetry underlying the whole thing unfortunately remains.

B: In film, you can see that most people who think about it either believe in movement and ignore the image, or hold onto the image and ignore movement. They do not take into account the film which, for example, like the cinematograph, renders 50 percent of what is in front of our eyes invisible. And perhaps that is what is should be about... I would like to remain invisible. Like someone trying to cross a border illegally. Like someone who does not want to be seen because there is a hegemony of transparency, illumination, enlightenment. Which is upheld most of all by those wish to remain invisible. I am seen and wish to remain invisible.
Representation is something that defines its own boundaries. And fleeing characters try to undermine the borders being drawn. Representation always tries to secure boundaries. That is precisely what it means.

Black Maria was the name of the first film studio in the world, built in 1893. The black tar paper which it was made out of and its narrowness were reminiscent of the black-painted prisoner transporters – carriages drawn by lame horses, which were called "Black Marias" after the most famous race horse at that time. The structure was mounted on wheels because its roof, which could be opened and closed, was aligned with the sun. 


With paintings from the Tannhäuser Tor cycle by the painter and draughtsman Alekos Hofstetter. We thank the costume workshops of the Salzburg Festival for the loan of the mirror suits.