Maxa Zoller on Pipilotti Rist

Join us to examine Pipilotti Rist's use of symbols and metaphors of female sexuality and her formal use of media technology. Contextualising her work within the history of expanded cinema and feminist filmmaking, we focus not on the parallels but on the differences between the various practices in order to allow for a different kind of approach to Rist's work.

While the interpretation of her practice has been focusing on the discussion around the female gaze, the abject body and so on, it is time to re-assess Rist within her specific context of (belated) first-wave feminism in Switzerland and her band Les Reines Prochaines. We must also question the institutionalisation of her work within the allegedly patriarchal art world and the limits of her seemingly borderless body of work.

The question at stake here is Pop Porn or Feminist Fist? This talk is designed for those who would like a critical introduction to Rist's work and are interested in exploring new areas of possible meaning.

Dr Maxa Zoller is a lecturer at Sotheby's Institute of Art and visiting lecturer at Goldsmith's College. Her area of expertise is artists' film and video art and critical theory. She is a member of the collective Hysteriography, a group of filmmakers and academics who share a frustration with the patriarchalisation of the experimental film canon and a desire to spin the kaleidoscope through which we view film history.