Klaus Wyborny marks his 80th birthday: explore entropy and storytelling
Meet the maverick Klaus Wyborny, a man way ahead of his time who celebrates his 80th birthday on June 5th. This physicist-turned-artist, who jokingly comments he'd still be in physics if not for his NYC LSD escapades, has an intellectual background he carries with him in every art piece.
Rebelling against the grain, Wyborny places narrative - the greatest taboo of advanced art in the '70s - at the center of his work. Derided as an ideologicalProp and emotional glue, narrative was disregarded by artists; but as Wyborny rightly points out, it's nearly impossible to navigate life without some form of narrative, such as a journey with a beginning, middle, and end.
Wyborny is not one to shy away from dismantling narrative excessively - take his film "The Open Universe" (1990) as proof. The film explores the constant decay of the universe (society included) under the looming threat of entropy, and the resistance of narrative to this decay. Narrative rudiments in this film range from mundane events ("The day before the wedding, she lost a foot") to overstuffed passages involving sailing trips and biscuit-hammering episodes.
Wyborny's work bears striking resemblance to Jean-Luc Godard's in its non-narrative fragments of cities and industrial landscapes. His legendary "The Birth of a Nation" (1973) follows this same pattern, concluding with a primal scene involving the film material switching from positive to negative and back, reminiscent of "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) by D.W. Griffith.
Throughout his career, Wyborny meticulously analyzed Griffith's film grammar, such as gazes, spaces, and conventions. Surprisingly, he does not limit his exploration to film; his film theoretical writings seamlessly transition from filmic structures to painting and literature, often making comparisons to Vincent van Gogh or Honoré de Balzac.
Wyborny's interest in literature dates back to the early '60s. His debut novel, "The Adventurous but Unlucky Life of William Parmagino," introduced themes of decay and construction that surface throughout his work. The unpublished "Comédie artistique" continues in this vein, serving up crude copulations, intellectual engagements, and references to Nazi era, war, and Holocaust. Once again, narrative is presented in a dynamic state of flux, tampered by meta-instances acting as artificial intelligences that censor and edit the content.
As impressive as Wyborny's oeuvre may seem, it's just the tip of the iceberg. Ships proceed with caution: there's a risk of colliding with the full extent of this visionary's work. For those seeking more about his filmic contributions, books such as "Elementary Cut Theory of the Feature Film," "Fundamentals of a Topology of the Narrative," and "Attempts. On the Way to a Cut Theory. Applie." offer a deeper dive into his experimental film and narrative theories. To explore Wyborny's films, visit "Filmgalerie 451" online.
Books such as "Elementary Cut Theory of the Feature Film" and "Fundamentals of a Topology of the Narrative" delve into Klaus Wyborny's experimental film and narrative theories, presenting a comprehensive exploration of his work. His literary contributions, including novels like "The Adventurous but Unlucky Life of William Parmagino" and the unpublished "Comédie artistique," offer another facet of entertainment in his intellectual repertoire.
