Comic – comical

For its third film, Komik – komisch (Comic – comical), the Künstlerinnengruppe Erfurt set itself the task of countering the image of women in socialism and the “straightforward, upright political gait”¹ that was propagated with non-conformist movements, with their own personal movement patterns. By using the vehicle of the comic, they were also able to visualize serious and tragic topics from their own life reality in the film. Apart from two duo constellations, all the women artists appear individually. During the filming, some of them translated their alternative concepts to patterns of representation into abstracted pictures spontaneously, and others into more theatrical scenes conceived in advance. 

Unlike in the case of Frauenträume (Women’s Dreams), individual narrative episodes do not follow one another in Komik – komisch. Gabriele Stötzer instead edited the scenes filmed individually with the women and interwove them to produce a dense filmic collage. Movements thus seem to be continued by different women in different places, like one rotation movement at the beginning of the film: Monika Andres begins to turn first, and Verena Kyselka and Ingrid Plöttner then take up this movement and perform it further in a modified form. Others transform the turning into angular body movements. As the film continues, Stötzer again and again uses editing to link, expand on, or contrast the individual scenes with one another visually. This causes the plot to develop in a nonlinear way and makes the film as a whole seem more abstract than the two that preceded it. Added to this is the fact that the participants appear in the rapid sequence of images as a group that acts collectively and reacts to one another, and that the storylines in the filmic collage are only differentiated bit by bit.

In Komik – komisch, all the protagonists wear self-made costumes for the first time. They seem to be the trigger for the nonconformist movements in the scenes, and often biographical references can be made to the protagonists. The first to appear is the Zeitungskostüm (Newspaper Costume), sewn and worn by Monika Andres. For the costume, in 1987 and 1988, she collected the few newspaper articles that she found interesting from the cultural-political weekly newspaper Sonntag² and the culture section of the Thüringische Landeszeitung. Along with plastic sheeting and red laces, she sewed these contributions into trousers, a jacket, and a hat. The newspaper clippings tell of her interest in the culture and art of Western foreign countries as well as in expanded forms of art. For instance, an article about Joseph Beuys is incorporated in the hat, a report on the jacket addresses the cultural policy of the Federal Republic of Germany, and other contributions present a glassblower, a pottery yard, and the fish market in Tokyo. A fragment of a headline hangs resplendent on the breast pocket, “und Erkenntnis”³ (and realization), accompanied by Arno Rink’s painting Maler und Modell (Painter and Model) from an article which deals with the relationship between art and science. On one trouser leg, there is an article about the birthday of Bertolt Brecht. As a counterpoint to the texts from the area of culture, Andres also incorporated a report about working people in the Erfurt District fulfilling the planned production targets. At the end of the film, there is an important panning shot in connection with the costume: Stötzer takes the camera very close to the wearer of the costume, pauses directly on the lettering “und Erkenntnis,” and then zooms out of this close-up to a total view so that the building of the publisher of the newspaper Neues Deutschland becomes visible in the background. The phrase-like contents of this organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) were of little interest to the artists. They instead obtained insights beyond of the notions of a propagated society from their joint artistic activities and discussions.

The Zeitungskostüm played an important role in the genesis of the work of the Künstlerinnengruppe. It could be seen in their first fashion show at the Augustinerkloster (St. Augustine’s Monastery) in June 1988 in Erfurt and was regularly worn in fashion-object shows and performances until the group dissolved. Andres pursued the use of newspapers as artistic material further with the banner Name Stadt Land (Name City Country), which can be seen for the first time in the film Signale (Signals).⁴ The group also organized a “Papierkleidfest” (Paper Dress Party) in Verena Kyselka’s apartment in 1989, for which additional costumes made from newspapers were produced.

A small collection by Monika Andres titled Rotes Glänzen (Red Shininess) is also used in Komik – komisch. Andres worked as an advertisement artist, which gave her access to this plastic material used for display window designs and fairs, among other items. A jacket, dress, vest, skirt, and hats that call to mind Oskar Schlemmer’s figures from the Triadic Ballet were created from it. In her red costumes, the artist moved through the cityscape of Erfurt to places that symbolize transit or change: pedestrian bridges, staircases, and the construction site of the never completed Kulturpalast (Palace of Culture).⁵ On one costume, the motto “Per Aspera Ad Astra” (Latin for “Through hardships to the stars”) is prominently attached to the front and rear sides. The second striking camera movement by Gabriele Stötzer focuses on precisely this lettering. This filmic emphasis on the lettering also stands for the group’s struggle for its own creativity and public recognition of it.

While the costumes by Monika Andres are tailored in a way that does not really emphasize the body, but instead gives rise to a new physicality when worn, Gabriele Göbel used her naked body as a canvas for disguises applied directly on the skin. She thus painted one side of her body as a Pierrot figure, and the other side with organic lines and color patterns. She accentuates this with finely balanced undulations and animal-like behavior, and sometimes crawls backward on all four through the picture. In close-up shots, her body with the painting and movements seems abstracted, while the pantomimic play appears more forceful from a greater distance. A biographical reference can be found in Göbel’s contribution: having grown up in a very conservative household, through her training as a physiotherapist, she developed a sense for the anatomical and motoric characteristics of the body. Her interest in female originality and matriarchy was initially triggered by hearing the music of Kate Bush for the first time at a party in Erfurt. With this curiosity, she found her way to the Künstlerinnengruppe, also because she wanted to overcome her own fear of contact with other women. In this interaction, she saw an opportunity to liberate herself.⁶

Verena Kyselka, Susanne Weiße, and Monique Förster take on three rather formulaic roles in Komik – komisch. Kyselka was interested in foreign cultures and appeared in the film in a Torerokostüm (Matador Costume). Against the backdrop of her rather boyish upbringing, Monique Förster chose a femininely tailored silk gown, which, like all the models in the group of silk costumes, was dyed in a natural shade. Susanne Weiße, dressed entirely in black, performs military-like, athletic, and deliberately awkward movements.

Performances by two duos of participants loosen up Komik – komisch: it is thus possible to see Gabriele Göbel with Ingrid Plöttner on a roof in a rear courtyard on Pergamentergasse.⁷ They make use of the roof as a stage, on which they playfully move around or with each other and flirt using exaggerated ingratiating gestures. At the suggestion of Gabriele Stötzer, who was filming, they compare their breasts while dancing. Plöttner wears two different Drachenkleider (Dragon Dresses) with fluttering winged sleeves, and Göbel appears one time as Pierrot, with organic lines, and subsequently in a silver coat or a striped dress. Ingrid Plöttner takes on a special role within the group. The sister of Gabriele Stötzer was employed on a regular basis as a baker—unlike most of the other women in the group. With her plump body, she expands the spectrum of body types and possible clothing. A second duo consists of Tely Büchner and Ines Lesch. In an interior space, they engage in a whimsical shadow play that calls to mind Plato’s allegory of the cave. In a subsequent scene, they climb out of the building via a ladder and become caught in a large spider web in the courtyard. Clad in a beige material, they then hop in tandem like a stage horse, across the roof on Pergamentergasse.

The motif of Büchner and Lesch’s childlike play is made use of again and again in rapid cuts before and after scenes by Harriet Wollert, who processed the forced adoption of her first son with Komik – komisch. Happy and tragic perspectives on the topic of mother, child, and childlikeness thus come together. Wollert wears a wide knitted dress,⁸ a dress of air balloons, and a garment made of bed sheets in alternation. She dances in the courtyard, pulling faces, prior to winding herself on a meadow in a dress made from a sheet, under which the balloons are concealed, and finally gives birth to balloons and then lets them fly away. Harriet Wollert’s child was taken from her by the state directly after being born in March 1988, since the police in Erfurt had classified her as an asocial person liable to commit crimes.⁹ Gabriele Stötzer invited her to participate in her film Veitstanz/Feixtanz¹⁰ (St. Vitus’ Dance/Smirky Dance) when she was heavily pregnant and about to give birth. According to the stage directions, all the participants in the film had to move almost ecstatically, which is what finally triggered Wollert’s labor. When she now reconstructed the birth and the forced relinquishment of her child in Komik – komisch, this thus denotes on the one hand a logical continuation of the artistic collaboration with Stötzer and on the other a possibility to process the trauma of having her child taken from her. Through her work with the Künstlerinnengruppe, Wollert hoped to escape her own difficult day-to-day life. She also received existential support from the group, especially from Gabriele Stötzer.¹¹ The solidarity between officially recognized producers of culture and individuals working underground in the GDR is shown by a letter that the author Christa Wolf wrote to the Erfurt regional court. In it, she campaigned for the rehabilitation of Harriet Wollert and named her creative potential and involvement in the Künstlerinnengruppe as a reason.¹²

Komik – komisch ends with Ina Heyner on the roof in the rear courtyard on Pergamentergasse: taking a bow in the costume of a white witch with a white mask. In the preceding scenes, she wears a long black cloak, which visually calls to mind the figure of a medieval Grim Reaper and in the case of Ina Heyner is supposed to stand for outmoded traditions. The figure holds one red, one yellow, and one white mask in her hands, which she tries on one after the other and can be understood as possibilities for reorientation. Heyner successively changes the black cloak for two witchlike costumes and leaps wildly across the roof. When the masks are lifted, vulnerabilities become visible. Heyner regards the changing of masks and trying out of roles as symbols for the reciprocal opening and pleasure in experimentation in the group.

Numerous costumes already undergo a creative secondary use in Komik – komisch. They were originally tailored for the Frauenforum (Women’s Forum) of the Evangelical Church Assembly in Erfurt in 1988. The church-related youth group “Offene Arbeit” (Open Work)¹³ had already developed into an important place for encounters, not only for the participants in the women’s group. There, one met like-minded creative individuals who were equally interested in alternative life concepts and topics or were subjected to repressive measures by the state. At the Church Assembly, with the motto “Change Leads Forward,” the group was involved in the preparations for the Forum von Frauen für Frauen (Forum of Women for Women), which took place at the Augustinerkloster on Saturday, June 11, 1988. Almuth Falcke, a church employee and the wife of Heino Falcke, the cathedral provost at the time, was responsible for organizing the extensive program for the Women’s Forum. In the course of the day, topics like sexism in language, alternative gynecology, women in the Bible, partnership conflicts, women in the workplace, and so on were discussed in work groups and a podium discussion on abortion was offered. In addition, there were also information booths, exhibitions, and a café. A women’s festival was organized for the evening, in which the Künstlerinnengruppe presented a fashion show to an audience for the first time.¹⁴ In advance, Gabriele Stötzer placed an advertisement in the regional newspaper, with which she invited other women to participate with their own models, and Harriet Wollert asked people to send yarn remnants for her line in a newspaper ad. The audience reacted positively to the fashion show, which was titled Mode von Frauen für Frauen (Fashion by Women for Women), and some of the creations were sold during the subsequent auction. One contemporary witness, however, adopted a critical tone: “The artistic preparations enabled us to experience how the extent to which the old image of femininity (flirting, embellishing, wiggling one’s ass, being gaped at, arousing) is still part of us.”¹⁵

The not entirely unfounded criticism of the form of presentation can, however, swiftly be refuted if one considers the development of the fashion industry in the GDR. It suffices to simply take a look at the fashion section in the X. Kunstausstellung der DDR (10th Art Exhibition of the GDR), which was presented exactly during the period when preparations were being made for the Church Assembly at the Albertinum in Dresden.¹⁶ For it, a “fashion/textile work group of the Verband Bildender Künstler der DDR [Association of Visual Artists of the GDR ]” developed models described as “Clothing in the Living Area: An Expression of the Socialist Way of Life,” which was aimed at the target group of “families with children living in newly constructed buildings.”¹⁷ In this context, the Künstlerinnengruppe’s designs for a separate collection limited to unique pieces, without any aspiration to practical use and with unusual colors and forms, can already be regarded as a rebellion. Moreover, the form and materiality of Monika Andres’s Zeitungskostüm and Verena Kyselka’s Mea Culpa costume virtually prevented a classic walk down the runway and can therefore be considered to be the group’s first fashion objects. The creative handling of such fashion objects and their public presentation in Erfurt followed a trend at the time in East German subculture. As a reaction to the lack of distinctive or at least special pieces of clothing, many young women designed and produced their clothing themselves as of the early 1980s, also as an expression of an individual design of life. A formative influence in this was the group chic, charmant & dauerhaft (chic, charming & here to stay), or ccd, from East Berlin, which made its first public appearance in 1983 at the Schaufenster youth club in Berlin. The fashion theater Allerleirauh (All-Kinds-of-Furs) emerged from this formation in 1987 and began designing even more extreme creations, which were then presented semipublicly in thematic choreographies accompanied by music, and delighted the creative counterculture.

Work began on the film Komik – komisch and thus a first step toward experimental and abstracted action a short time after the fashion show at the Augustinerkloster in Erfurt. The first live performance by the Künstlerinnengruppe then took place in Leipzig in March 1989. As an artistic genre, performance was in a difficult position at that time: though creative art practices with a performance character were occasionally tolerated in the GDR as of the mid-1980s, performance art was not accepted as an art form on an equal footing until the end phase of the GDR and could therefore be seen relatively rarely in a public or semipublic context.¹⁸ The occasion for the performance in Leipzig was the opening of the exhibition Malerei Grafik Objekte (Painting Graphics Objects) by Verena Kyselka and Monika Andres at a facility of the Kulturbund of the GDR, the Klub & Galerie Nord. In the preliminary discussions connected with the exhibition, Ina Gille, the director of the gallery at the time, proposed the presentation of a performance with the group to the two artists.¹⁹ For the participants, this first led to considerations of what should be understood under this concept.²⁰ The women finally agreed on “spur-of-the-moment pieces that are unrepeatable in the same form.”²¹ The title of the first performance, Figuraler Einzelgang zeitgemäßer Erscheinungen (Figural Single Walk of Contemporary Phenomena), coined by Monika Andres, stands symbolically for the sort of collaboration between single individuals. An invitation to do a subsequent performance that made use of the same title describes the concerns of the group more concretely: “It’s about the simultaneity, singularity, and greater solidarity of the different figures … Each one is its own melody and is an echo of the others.” Only photographs showing the interactions of the women have been preserved from the first performance, but an expanded repertoire of movements already seems to become apparent in them. Self-produced music and sounds and text readings became ever more important elements: Verena Kyselka played the violin and Gabriele Stötzer bongos, Monika Andres sang, and texts by the artists were read. Many new costumes that no longer had anything in common with fashion to be worn in day-to-day life were created for the performances. Some of them were used in the next film, Signale, and some could only be seen at live performances until the Künstlerinnengruppe dissolved in 1994.