Kurt Kren
Kurt Kren (September 20, 1929 - died in Vienna on June
23, 1998) was an Austrian avant-garde lmmaker. He is
best known for his involvement with the Vienna Aktionists and the group of lms that resulted, although this accounts for only a part of his career, and he later returned
to the Structural roots of his third lm 3/60: Bume Im
Herbst. Although not a seminal Structural lm, 31/75:
Asyl is arguably one of the more satisfying lms of the
movement.
recorded a song in tribute to Kurt Kren called Ode to
Kurt Kren. From 1983 until 1989 Kren did work as a
security ocer at the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston,
USA).
Kren returned to his native Vienna in 1989. In the 1990s
his works were presented worldwide, also by the major
museums and cinematheques. He was a co-founder of
the Vienna Institute of Direct Art and the Austria Filmmakers Cooperative.
Kurt Kren died from pneumonia in Vienna, Austria in
1998.
Biography
2 Filmography
Kurt Kren was born in 1929 in Vienna, Austria to a family
of a Jewish father (a bank employee) and German mother.
From 1939 until the end of World War II Kren lived in
Rotterdam, where he was sent with one of the Childrens
Transports. In 1947 Kren returned to Vienna, and his
father provided him a job at the National Bank.
Das Walk (1956)
Rom (Fragment) (1956)
Klavier Salon 1. Stock (1956)
He began a lm career in the early 1950s creating experimental short 8mm lms. In 1957 he moved to the 16mm
format.
Mobiles (1957)
1/57: Versuch mit synthetischem Ton (Test) / 1/57:
Experiment with Synthetic Sound (Test) (1957)
In 1966, Kren participated in the Destruction in Art Symposium in London. In 1968 he visited the USA for the
rst time, showing his lms in New York and St. Louis.
After a participation in a happening Kunst und Revolution (Art and Revolution) at the University of Vienna
in 1968, Krens lms were conscated and he was red
from the National Bank.
2/60: 48 Kpfe aus dem Szondi-Test / 2/60: 48
Heads from the Szondi-Test (1960) (see Szondi test)
3/60: Bume im Herbst / 3/60: Trees in Autumn
(1960)
Kren participated in 1970 in the International Underground Film Festival (London, UK) and 1971 in the
Cannes Film Festival. He moved to Cologne, Germany
for ve years.
4/61: Mauern-Positiv-Negativ und Weg (1961)
5/62: Fenstergucker, Abfall, etc. / 5/62: People
Looking Out of the Window, Trash, etc. (1962)
Retrospective screenings took place in 1976 in National
Film Theatre, London, 1978 in New York, 1979 in
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
6/64: Mama und Papa (Materialaktion Otto Mhl)
/ 6/64: Mom and Dad (An Otto Mhl Happening)
(1964)
From 1978 until 1989 Kurt Kren lived in the USA, sometimes just in a car, traveling, making presentations and
lectures at universities, lm schools and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.
7/64: Leda mit dem Schwan / 7/64: Leda and the
Swan (1964)
8/64: Ana Aktion Brus / 8/64: Ana: Action Brus
(1964)
In the early 1980s Kren alternated between living in
Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas. He began frequenting the Texas punk rock clubs and became a xture
of the early Houston punk rock scene. Kren became
good friends with punk rock band Really Red and often
would show his lms as a backdrop to their Texas shows.
On their "New Strings for Old Puppets" ep Really Red
9/64: O Tannenbaum / 9/64: O Christmas Tree
(1964)
10/65: Selbstverstmmelung / 10/65: Self-Mutilation
(1965)
1
3
10b/65: Silber Aktion Brus / 10b/65: Silver: Action
Brus (1965)
10c/65:
(1965)
Brus wnscht euch seine Weihnachten
EXTERNAL LINKS
41/82: Getting warm (1982)
42/83: No Film (1983)
43/84: 1984 (1984)
11/65: Bild Helga Philipp (1965)
44/85: Foot'-age Shoot'-out (1985)
12/66: Cosinus Alpha (1966)
45/88: Trailer (1988)
13/67: Sinus Beta (1967)
46/90: Falter 2 (1990)
14/67: Kurdu (Gebetsmhle) (1967) (The DVD distributor INDEX lists this lm as lost in its biography
of Kurt Kren.)
47/91: Ein Fest (1991)
48/94: Fragment W.E. (1994)
15/67: TV (1967)
49/95: Tausendjahrekino / Thousand-Years-Cinema
(1995)
16/67: 20. September / 16/67: September 20 (1967)
50/96: Snapspots (for Bruce) (1996)
17/68: Grn - rot (1968)
18/68: Venecia kaputt (1968)
19/68: White-black (1968)
20/68: Schatzi (1968)
3 External links
Kurt Kren at the Internet Movie Database
21/68: Danke (1968)
Sixpack Film Vienna-based distributor of Krens
work
22/69: Happy End (1969)
Few lms for downloading and an essay about Kren
23/69: Underground Explosion (1969)
Biography (also used as one of the sources for this
article)
24/70: Western (1970)
25/71: Klemmer und Klemmer verlassen die Welt
(1971)
26/71: Zeichenlm - Balzac und das Auge Gottes /
26/71: Cartoon: Balzac and the Eye of God (1971)
27/71: Auf der Pfaueninsel (1971)
28/73: Zeitaufnahme(n) (1973)
29/73: Ready-made (1973)
30/73: Coop Cinema Amsterdam (1973)
31/75: Asyl / 31/75: Asylum (1975)
32/76: An W+B / 32/76: To W+B (1976)
33/77: Keine Donau (1977)
34/77: Tschibo (1977)
35/77: Dogumenta (1977)
36/78: Rischart (1978)
37/78: Tree Again (1978)
38/79: Sentimental Punk (1979)
39/81: Which Way to CA? (1981)
40/81: Breakfast im Grauen (1981)
About Kurt Kren in Bright Lights Film Journal
Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
4.1
Text
Kurt Kren Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Kren?oldid=660043419 Contributors: Hyacinth, YUL89YYZ, Rjwilmsi, FlaBot,
Bartleby, Gaius Cornelius, SmackBot, Alex Ex, Lugnuts, Waacstats, Wayne Miller, Iohannes Animosus, RogDel, Dj Transpacicus, Addbot,
Yobot, Razzle Bathbone, RjwilmsiBot, J R Gainey, VIAFbot, Seppnono, KasparBot and Anonymous: 5
4.2
Images
4.3
Content license
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
