Silences

From the Viennese Actionism movement, Dieter Appelt’s photographic work records traces of the body as iconographic motifs that reconstruct intimate experiences of memory. In 1981, while exploring Bergson’s work, he became interested in the complex and little-known work of poet Ezra Pound, co-founder of the Vorticist group, largely inspired by Vitalist precepts. Dressed in a coat and hat, Appelt imagines he’s the author, replaying out the last days of his life, strolling through familiar places. Two years later, he came up with a series in the form of a ciné-tableau whose large format and arrangement inspired by the rhythm of Pound’s “Cantos” is a throwback to the cinematographic experience.

Ciné-tableau, Ezra Pound, 1981
Assemblage of 25 Analog prints, soundtrack; dimensions: 245 x 315 cm
Private collection

© Dieter Appelt

Niemegk, Germany, 1935 – Lives and works in Berlin