Rock'n'Roll Will Never Die
Michaela Grill & Billy Roisz

It's not just their joint live performances and music video collaborations, such as my kingdom for a lullaby, that make it logical to pair Michaela Grill (b. 1971) and Billy Roisz (b. 1967) for a double tribute. Outstanding representatives of the first "digital generation" of Austrian avant-garde cinema, Grill and Roisz have shaped the common interests of this scene since 1999/2000. At the same time, they both developed highly unique bodies of work which are no longer adequately described by the old umbrella term, "Austrian Abstracts."  

 

In 2011 and 2013 respectively, Roisz and Grill were honored with the top prize for innovative cinema at the annual Festival of Austrian Film, the Diagonale. Perhaps this can be seen as a sign of their success in first refining, and then transgressing their original "generational interests." Image and sound become ever more intertwined and the masterly handling of "productive mistakes" becomes a sensory experience. At the same time, in works such as cityscapes (2007, Grill), Chiles en Nogada (2011, Roisz) and Forêt d’expérimentation (2012, Grill), both artists have opened themselves towards the "documentary" and mimetic qualities of their medium, achieving an impressive balance between the reality of the “outside world” and that of the machines through which everything in the world must pass.

 

The title of this program refers to a rebellious (if subliminal) streak in the works of both Michaela Grill and Billy Roisz: the performative aspects, the touring through clubs and concert venues, the creation of works at the moment of their appearance – all of these demonstrate, despite Grill’s and Roisz’ love for abstraction, the practical-historical foundations from which they launched their multi-media activities: Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die.