The Case of the Spiral Staircase

A house with constantly changing interiors, surrounded by different types of landscapes, is shown from various angles, in response to music.

In sequence, we see an acrobat, a nurse, a German officer, and a majorette. They are alone in their own white room, and are wearing lots of makeup: black around their eyes and mouths, almost like a skull. They move tensely, and radiate a sense of desperation and fear, with many soundless screams. They are in a psychiatric hospital. The final shot consists of a pan along an empty, sterile corridor with empty white rooms, from which frightening sounds emanate.

A power ritual at a house and a power struggle during a journey over land and water.

A photo animation of a woman standing in a cube. Through the windows of the cube, we see an aquarelle dune landscape. To the music of the pop song Time Takes a Cigarette, the woman smokes a cigarette as the camera makes a 360° rotation.

In Wiertz and Verbeek's kinetic, kaleidoscopic opus Keep on Turning (1974, 3 min, 16mm, sound) cubes convey, rotate and shift in tandem.

A play of light and shadow in an artificial architectural environment with pillars and a checkered floor, featuring a female figure. The film is composed of tinted photographs and photomontages.

A film-which objects zoals the body, roses, cats, and leaves are interwoven into continuous movements. The result is not a story, but gives an impression Instead of an animated carpet with pattern-like elements.

A man and a woman, are in a closed cube that continuously rotates. Using animation, it is possible to look inside this moving space because walls are removed and replaced at just the right moment. The movements of these two people form a kind of choreography, defined by the rhythm and the mathematical nature of the cube. In about three thousand photographs, these movements are recorded in phases. These photographs were used as the basis for the film. Easy Action Animated is a film that is typical of the work of Verbeek & Wiertz. With great precision, they build animated worlds/spaces that have a strong mathematical character: cubes, spirals, and rotating surfaces. These are abstractions in which man is imprisoned in an alienated way, whether he is a spectator or a subject.