Plüschlove (1984) is the first collaborative computer-based work by Gudrun Bielz (b. 1954, Linz, Austria) and Ruth Schnell (b. 1956, Feldkirch, Austria). It was made at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna where they were studying in the department of Digital Art (formerly Visual Media Design). They used a Commodore 64 computer and graphic tablet to draw over video footage from films such as Raoul Walsh’s High Sierra (1941) and Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935). Using this technology, they sought to manipulate and deconstruct the normative gender roles they encountered in mass media. Schnell explains: ‘I found it all really fascinating because it was basically an extension of video, so we were able to occupy an artistic place which a lot of people had ignored.’
Elvis (1985) was produced as a teaser video for a theatre production at the Schauspielhaus Wien in Vienna: ‘There is a display window at the Schauspielhaus on Porzellangasse, and the idea was to put a video in the window and play it night and day. We didn’t work with film, instead we based it on a book about Elvis, drawing and improvising. […] My rule was never to use special effects, create everything yourself!’
XXX (1987) is edited and animated on an Amiga 1000, using video source material that shows movements of flowing water. Layered on top of the wavy imagery are animated shapes, reminiscent of a meadow, but abstracted.