Isabell Spengler is a film maker with a particular interest in the overlapping fields of film and performance. She investigates ways in which performances can be transposed into films and various forms of „live film“.
In her collaborations with other artists, Spengler sets up situations, in which ideas and wishes are visualized by the means of photography, drawing, performance, costume design and three-dimensional models. The works frequently generate humor by emphasizing discrepancies between preconceived and factual realities.
Born in Berlin, Isabell Spengler studied experimental film at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin with Valie Export and Heinz Emigholz (Meisterschülerin 1999) and at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles (MFA, 2001) with James Benning and William E. Jones.
From 1999 to 2004 she lived in Los Angeles. She has received a DAAD and an Eastman Kodak stipend among other stipends and awards. She currently teaches experimental film at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin.
Her filmography includes „Father, Mother, what should I film today?“ (2012), „Osmosis of the Unicorn“ (2009), „LINT LENT LAND“ (2009), „The Pitch“ (2008), „Telepathy Experiment I“ (2007), „Syncpoint“ (2007), „Lantouy“ (2006), „Permanent Residents“ (2005), „The Natural Life of Mermaids“ (2004), „Transformation in the Land of Enchantment“ (2003) and „Psychic Tequila Tarot“ (1998).
She has collaborated with her life-long friend Antonia Baehr on numerous film and performance productions, including a.o. work in the performance-group „ex machinis“ (1994-1996), the music video „Syncpoint“ (2007), the video installation „Telepathy Experiment I“ (2007) and a lecture on performance and film called „Two Friends and More Than Four Walls“ (Berlinale 2010).
Since 1998 Isabell Spengler’s work, including films, video installations, photography and performance, has been exhibited in film festivals and exhibitions worldwide.