Parasympathica

In a Spanish magazine, I found a list of characteristics considered by the Catholic church to be positive and negative. With two exceptions, the positive characteristics represented passive attitudes. In the film, I represent them mimically. Using animated imagery, I let the juices which are stimulated by the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, flow over the body: tears, sweat, sperm, vaginal secretions. (Mara Mattuschka) In Parasympathica the artist divides her body into two halves, one black and the other white, with everything held together by a crown she wears. This "split" figure rotates jerkily by means of single frame animation. As Mattuschka spins on her own axis in a movement resembling a butterfly, the contrasts between the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic, are blurred. (Christa Blümlinger)

Orig. Title
Parasympathica
Year
1986
Country
Austria
Duration
5 min
Director
Mara Mattuschka
Category
Avantgarde/Arts
Orig. Language
None
Downloads
Parasympathica (Image)
Parasympathica (Image)
Parasympathica (Image)
Credits
Director
Mara Mattuschka
Script
Mara Mattuschka
Cinematography
Mara Mattuschka
Music
Mara Mattuschka
Editing
Mara Mattuschka
Sound
Mara Mattuschka
Animation
Mara Mattuschka
Available Formats
16 mm (Original Format)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,37
Sound Format
mono
Frame Rate
24 fps
Color Format
b/w
16 mm (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,37
Sound Format
mono
Frame Rate
24 fps
Color Format
b/w
DCP 2K flat
Aspect Ratio
1:1,33
Digital File (prores, h264)
Festivals (Selection)
1996
Luzern - VIPER - Int. Film-,Video-& Multimedia-Festival
1997
Locarno - Festival Int. de film
1998
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des österreichischen Films
Hiroshima - Int. Animation Festival