Films
Sylvia Schwenk makes documentary films and Re-Presentations. Her documentaries take you inside worlds that are ordinarily out of reach. Her Re-Presentations bring works of socially engaged performance art to new audiences in new contexts.
Documentary Films
Re-Presentations
Each of these films grows out of a work of socially engaged performance art that Sylvia Schwenk conceptualises and directs, re-presenting it to audiences beyond the original event.
-
library of emoji art

An emoji is the smallest unit of digital communication. In this ongoing project it becomes a reason for hundreds of people to be in the same place at the same time.
-
connect: kaleidoscope

People unite in movements to create a large human kaleidoscope under a copper beech tree. As rain falls on their faces, they share in the experience of connection.
-
dada – when up is down

A group of healthy people including two children simultaneously fall to the floor during the opening of an art exhibition. The cause is as surprising as the fall itself.
-
birds and clouds

Over 300 people come together in a German/Dutch border town as three model airplane clubs uniquely fly in formation, origami cranes are folded and large crane sculptures flown over the airfield.
-
Along white lines

During half time at a regional Aussie Rules Grand Final, over 400 fans ran onto the field and lay down alongside performers. Together they covered the lines of centre square with their bodies.
-
Sometimes awful things

A man dances a waltz with a lawnmower inside a maximum-security prison. Twenty palm trees tower above him. The waltz is filled with hope but underwritten with despair.
-
One day I’ll lend a hand

People from different worlds come together, unified by a communal spirit of making art. What emerges during rehearsals quietly reveals how people connect by building on what they have in common.
-
Under Surveillance

An art intervention masquerading as a real everyday event. Officials conduct surveillance in Martin Place, Sydney, recording the public without their knowledge. No one asks why.
For collectors
Films and photographs from both categories are available as limited editions. Unframed photographs start from €3,000. Film editions are available by enquiry.
Enquire about a workFor galleries and curators
Films are available for exhibition, screening and festival programmes individually or as a curated selection. Exhibition proposals and loans are welcome.
Discuss an exhibition














