Loop me in

Some of Bernd Oppl´s short films show furious formal dynamics within sparse achitectural geometries. In four high density minutes, Loop me in shows a space in which an entry and an exit take place, framed in unmoved frontality, with just two groovy cuts taking us closer.            

The title refers to the wish for being kept in the loop, to get all the information. The film places us inside an empty room, its bare white tiles containing just enough information to conjure up mental images: Is this a clinic? A bathroom? Or rather a cell? An abattoir? Caught in a loop of nightmarish associations, we actually face a grotesque dark figure coming around the corner: A ball of magnetic tape crawls in, whirling in furor.            

Once the tape was an important carrier for storing information; now it seems to have become the victim of an individual case of player devouring and spitting out the tape; and, even more, the victim of collective media innovation. Gone with the wind of techno history, it is now no longer all the rage and, therefore, nothing but rage: the tape jumps at us, hissing, growling.            

But is this really what´s taking place? We should keep in mind that today, many young people love the old tape, use it for mixtape gifts or band merchandise. This relic attracts them retro-magically; that´s why you call it "magnetic tape". This is true for audio more than for video tapes: people cherish the "feel" of information drop-outs in the sound and the look of both types of tape, but only the audio tape is looped and circulated as a commodity again. So, the tape in Loop me in is back in business, its frenzy due to pure self-enjoyment. Maybe it revels in the polish of the tiles, having a good bath. Or maybe it dances – tap(e)dances – to its very own sound. Its caress of audioheads has left behind noises reminiscent of music high on reverse run – from psychedelic and metal to musique concrète and hip hop scratching. Small wonder this tape is (having) such a ball. But: note the trickiness and reverse feel of not just the tape´s music but also of its running up the wall (as in a Cocteau film). Yes, this tape is savage, but certainly not stupid! (Drehli Robnik)