Pipilotti Rist: I’m Not The Girl Who Misses Much

Videostill from Pipilotti Rist, I’m Not The Girl Who Misses Much, 1986, SD Pal in 4:3, 07:45 min., colour, sound. Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Luhring Augustine

- selected by Anne Hilde Neset in the context of the exhibition Holding Pattern -

In this video from 1986, Pipilotti Rist sings, squawks and wails “I’m Not The Girl Who Misses Much” – a line adapted from the Beatles’ song Happiness is a Warm Gun. The original line begins with “She”: “She’s Not A Girl Who Misses

Much.” So here, “she” has become “I” – and instead of John Lennon's laconic reference to a wild girl who doesn’t miss out on anything, we hear a confession: I am this girl. So we might expect a self-confident performance. Nothing of the

kind: the mantra-like repetition of the same line, the ecstatic dance movements (sometimes speeded up, sometimes slowed down) and the continual disruption of the image combine to give the impression of a desperate, over-the-top

performance. Any expectation of a flawless self-portrayal in front of the camera is mercilessly subverted. Created while she was studying in Basle, “I’m Not The Girl Who Misses Much” is among the artist’s most frequently shown and most talked-about videos. It has been interpreted as a comment on the ambivalent role of women in the music

business or in the media as a whole. Apart from a few exceptions, women are still required to present themselves in a sexualised way. The streakiness, blurring and distortion of this video, in contrast, embody the artist’s refusal to provide a consumable image of herself as a woman. Instead, we are confronted with a collapse on camera, in which the woman falls apart in more than one sense. How is it supposed to be possible for women to present themselves with confidence when most of the role models have submitted to the male gaze? How can women revalue, for themselves, the pleasure of looking and being looked at – and do so in such a way that oppressive and discriminatory patterns are not repeated?

“I’m Not The Girl Who Misses Much” suggests a way out of the dilemma: only by actively, deliberately and creatively manipulating the margins of error that are inherent in the system – in this case, distortion combined with visual over- and under-stimulation – can women succeed in determining their own image.

Text for Audioguide: «PIPILOTTI RIST – YOUR SALIVA IS MY DIVING SUIT IN THE OCEAN OF PAIN», Kunsthaus Zürich, February 26, 2016 to May 8 2016
Authors: Mirjam Varadinis (MV), Änne Söll (ÄS), Katharina Ammann (KA), Eveline Schüep (ES) und Andrea Fischer-Schulthess

 

Pipilotti Rist

Pipilotti Rist, a pioneer of spatial video art, was born 1962 in Grabs in the Swiss Rhine Valley on the Austrian Border and has been a central figure within the international art scene since the mid-1980s.

Astounding the art world with the energetic exorcistic statement of her now famous single channel videos, such as ‘I’m Not The Girl Who Misses Much,’ 1986 and ‘Pickelporno,’ 1992, her artistic work has co-developed with technical advancements and in playful exploration of its new possibilities to propose footage resembling a collective brain. Through large video projections and digital manipulation, she has developed immersive installations that draw life from slow caressing showers of vivid color tones, like her works ‘Sip My Ocean,’ 1996 or ‘Worry Will Vanish,’ 2014.

For Rist, showing vulnerability is a sign of strength on which she draws for inspiration. With her curious and lavish recordings of nature (to which humans belong as an animal), and her investigative editing, Rist seeks to justify the privileged position we are born with, simply by being human.