Screen Eroticisms

Artist lecture

Professor Amelia Jones’ lecture dealt with explorations of female desire in the work of Pipiloffi Rist. The works that she focused on were Schneeman’s “Fuses” and Rist’s Pimple Porno. She addressed how screen technology, the relationship between image and sound, and way the images were edited lend to the eroticism in two pieces made by different artists in different locations and time periods.

Fuses is a film of the artist’s and her lover’s sexual experience from the point of view of a cat. She uses that perspective to create an almost whimsical mood in the beginning. Done in 16 millimeter film, Fuses creates a painterly visual experience using the film as a textile material. Jones explains that the film comes to life as the movement and texture of the bodies is enhanced by extreme close ups and some abstracts of the rhythmic movements of the bodies.

Pimple Porno, meant to be shown as an analog video, was achieved using much more abstract means. At the beginning the felinity of the woman is portrayed using the sound of her heals and a close up as she walks. This peaks the senses of the viewer and creates the sensual mood of the piece immediately. Jones emphasizes the way Rist used the Woman’s gaze on her lover empower the woman sexually. Both partners are equally aggressive throughout the piece and at times the bodies mesh into one. Throughout the piece the bodies are floating in abstract space that imitates nature. The visual experience created feels like it could be touched. The focus of the piece is the softness and feeling of skin, often juxtaposed against rougher images of fruit. Jones lectured on how the sound adds to the effectiveness of the film, however I wasn’t able to hear it through most of the piece.

Both pieces show the women as empowered sexual beings pursuing the objects of their desire. Jones’ lecture helped me to understand the messages of these films in a way I never would have on my own. I think it’s fascinating what these artists were able to achieve such a perceptive experience for the viewers through erotic subject matter that could easily have come off as lewd if approached in a different way.