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VALIE EXPORT/PETER EIBELMult imedialeministartTHCMASDREHER

EXPANDED CINEMAln 1968, he year of its founding, he UndependentFilmCenter in Munichorganized he FrrstEuropeanMeetrngoflndependentFilmmakers.Birgit Hein writes',Th e necessarypublicity for the well vrsitedcrnema events was provrdedby the spectacularpresentatronsof ValreExport's Tupp-und Tastfr lmGrope and Touch Fi lm)and Peter Weibel 'sact ion Exit '. lIn Exi t , Weibel projecteda f i lm onto a t in foi l screen,unt i lhe interrupted he presentat ion y physical lyhreateningthe audiencerom the cinema's tage, he si te of thepresentat ion: ocketbodies nstead f mot ion pictures.2With the expulsionrom the cinema n Exi t , Weibel turnedvoyeur ism gainstts own premises: ggression ndcur iosi ty coupled n a phal locrat icexual i ty hich placesi tsel fat the disposal f the feminine becameopposingqual i t iesn the expulsion rom the cinema.ln Tapp-und Tastkrno,Export placeda box over her headto cover her exposedbreasts;he open front of the boxwas covered by a curtain.The action akingplaceon stagebecame nvisible nd tangible, s opposed o the visible,intangible l immerof the cinema.Export invi tedpassers-byto grope through he curtain or 12 seconds. s soon as a

passer-6y ccepted he offer, the art ist urned her head othe side o keep rack of the t ime, After the t ime was up,Export lookedat the person ouching er and indicatedthat the act ionhad come to an end. Export subjugatedpassers-byo a discipl ine f t ime, whichsubordinatedhesub.lectiveenseof touch to an objective ramework.Export c i rcumventedhe taboo of visual exual t t ract ionin publ icplaces. y publ ic ly resent ingemalebody partsnaked,but not visual ly o, she corrected he sexualproject ion ie lds,whichare establ ishedisual ly, ut nottact i ly,6y mass eproduct ions: pectacular 'object- images'( ' i rages-objets ' )3,hicharousecur iosi ty, ere notpresent,By meansof the tact i le,Export circumventedrestr ict ive odesand then re- introducedhem 6y meansofthe discipl ine f t ime: restr ict ive odesare, on a tact i lelevel ,considerably ore threateningor the body andone's sense f hisor her own body than visual oding,butalso ess ubt le.FEATURE FILMSBeginningn 197 , Export and Weibel ransformdnouementmodelsof the feature i lm genreby meansofmontage echniques, ream sequences,nd pictor ia lmediain the pictor ia lmedium, o make statementsrom a

' ' tJ ta' ', i r .

ValreEXPORTaus.ValreExport.Wien l9BBTapp-un d Tastkrno, 968Eine ntermedtaleKunstlerrn.

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feminist tandpoint ,which, unt i l hen, had been either rareor impossiblen this genre.ln a scene rom the fi lm UnsichtbareGegner (lnvisibleAdversary),which Export and Weibel realized ogether n1976177,nna and Peter communicatewith one anotherboth direct lyand, simultaneously,y meansof monitors.4ln 1984, n Die Praxisder Li ebe (The Practiceof Love),Export f i lmsa monitor-quarrel etweenJudithand Dr.JosefFrischkoff. n ly Judith s present.sBoth scenes redeterminedby cr iseswithin a relat ionship.n both cases,the monitor- image f the masculine art becomesindependent f the actor; and in eachcase, he maleimageexplicateshe foundering f the relationship.ln both of these eature i lms, eproductivemedia,suchasphotography nd video, which are presented n the fi lm aspart of the action,place'viewers f the f i lm in the role ofthe observer,who observe he (observedand observing)observers n the fi lm as they observe.The observedandobserving emaleobservers n the fi lm become emaleprotagonistsor viewersof both sexes: usts, n the f i lm,th e actressattempts to orient herselfbetween theimaginary,he symbolic nd the real, he viewer attemptsto orient his or herselfbetween his or her ownprojections,he fi lm world and the real circumstancesfthe presentation, nd the projection n the cinema.M U LTIMEDIA-PE FORMANCEStimmenaus dem lnnenraum(Voices rom the Interior)wa s produced as a commission or the Ars Electronica ndpresented n lgBBat the Brucknerhausn Linz.The 'medialstructure'was realized y Export and Weibel. During heperformance, usanneWidl dressed p as UnicaZrn,Mae West, Mary Shell"y,AugustaAda Byron (Countess fLovelace) nd LindaLovelace. / idl worked with propsand gestures,which were characterist icor the womenbeingpresented.Excerpts rom documentsof the f ive

women were read by Widl onto an audio-cassetteeforethe performance nd playedover loudspeakersogetherwith composi t ions y Patricia unger. he textsdemonstrated ow much he feministopposit ion s st i l laconsequence nd therefore,althoughmore negative,mirror of patr iarchal tructures.Computer graphicsn sl ides nd videosspl i tup digital izedimages rom Widl 's impersonations f famouswomen invar iousways:From the l imitednumber of shotsof Widl 'sperformance,Muki Pakes ch video)and H.W, Pangratz(sl ides) enerated mages,which ranged romreconstructions f the social ole of the women presentedto allusions,o completely ree combination s f images.The videoswere presented ehind he actress n serialsequences n a portablemult i -monitor-wal l ,h ich coveredalmost he en tire backwall. Four electronicallyoupledprojectorspresented l ides ext to and over eachotheron the backwall of the room.INTERMEDIAL ALLEGORICAL PROCEDURESThe performanceStimmen aus dem lnnenraumreconstructs he avant-gardemethod of montagewiththeatr ical nd electronicmedia media,which are olderand younger ha n montage tself.Montageas arecombination f decontextualizedet pieces eads oAllegoricalProcedures6,o allusionso world conditions na state of upheaval. he allegoricaln montageprocessesranges rom history in a state of d ecayTo a Vitallyprogressivehistory of humankinds: uiningenot only allowsthat which has becomestat ic o tumble down, it alsoproduces he dynamicnecessaryor change withoutconstituting new conception f the world through hecontradictoryrelationshipof heterogeneous artst]. InStimmenaus dem lnnenrauffi,Export and Weibel choosesuchcode-fragmentsf the feminine,which revealthemselves s ruinsof collapsed atriarchal onceptions f

Peter WEIBEL On Justifying he HypotheticalNature of Art and the Non-ldenticalitywithin theObject World. lmage of the World of Language,1992 CourtesyGalerieTanjaGrunert,Kln

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the world. Computer graphics nergize he intercoursewith the signsof decay: static contrasts betweenpatriarchal ocietyand futile femininecounter-movementsbecome eministprocesses f transformation,a dialectic ftransformer and transfo rmed.ln Stimmen,an intermedialmontage s constitutedby themutual referencebetween three levels:a.) A l lvingbody (actress).b. ) Masquerade f the actress a.) for a simulation f rolesin real space.The roles refer to referencepoints n pastreality:Th e past is re-enactedas the sembl ance f aformerly livingbeingwith the help of acces sones.c.) Elect ronic magesimulation, n which signsare rnfinitelyreproduciblean d transformableand signoperationsar ereversible. he imagesimulation ombines ragments romb.) with each other as well as with additionalelements.C.) receives function hrough b.) that refers back tohistorical andicaps. hrough the infinite,unlimrtedpossibil i t iesf transformation,which c.) presents n facets,the historical ramework of b.) is revealedas being imitedand restrictedby pre-codings.

ANAGRAMSln a text on the oerformance Stimmen aus oemlnnenraum,Weibel places magesimulation n connectionwith the anagrams f UnicaZrntt : f rom the fountain-headsof one of the chosenwomen who struggleagainsttheir pre-conditioned oles - th e only one to have pu t anabrupt end to her own life - Export and Weibel takepossibil i t iesor an alternative nterpretationof signs.Syllables, oundsand letters can be substrtutedn anagramswithout regard or their semantics:n anagrams,onomatopoeic expressions nd numerous other linguistictricks, the word, the syllable and the sound strut,emancipated from every semantic association,as a thing,which may be allegorically exploited.tzAccording o Weibel, with reference o the dolls of HansBellmer,who was married to Zrn, the use of signswithout semantic estr ict ionss translatablento ananagrammaticismf the bodyt3. The double role ofBel lmer 's ol ls of beingsign- l ike nd realsimultaneously,and thus presenting s dead bodies an amal gamation fsign-forms nd sign-bearers which allows hem tobecome deal bearersof wishfulphantasies,s, however,no t reoeated n the oerformance.Bellmer'sdoll mechanicsis divided n two levels: n the masq uerade b. ) and theimagesimulation f body set pieces c.), and both levelsar e created with and refer to a real body, to a femaleprotagonist u ). By playing hrough a pluralityofexemplary emale roles (b.), she runs up against heborder of the transgression f establishedole-norms,while the imagesimulation c. ) has crossed hese borders.Th e 'phall ic ignif icant's, according o Jacques acan, hesourceof divis ions n this sideof and beyonda borderra,whereby both sidesare mirrors of each other. Export andWeibel understanddivisionsn gender-specificppositionalpairs, n analogy o Lacan,as 'binary ambivalences'ambivalentbecausehe binaryoppositionof masculine-feminine efers o a masculine ower which producesdichotomizat ion. lshe fates of the women (b.) ,reconstructedby Widl with theatricalmeans,stand oday

ValieEXPORT Die Praxrs er Lrebe, 9B 4aus: ValieExport. Eine ntermediale nstlerin,Wien l98Bfor a feministnegation f the phallocratic ower that hadpreviously egated hem.In the unrestr icted lectronic enerat ion f signs . . ) , sel f -referent ia lransformat ionsecomepossible eyond'binaryambivalences' .he di f ference etween he electronicgenerat ion f signs . . ) and the theatr ical imulat ion froles b ) cannotbe descr ibed s the divis ion f aphallocratic tructure nto binary eatures,but rather asthe yet to be and already rr ivedat solut ion f 'b inaryambivalences' .omputersimulat ionhematicizeshisseparationwith its spectrum rom reconstructions f socialhistory o free combinat ions.POTLATCHThe concept sign-funct ion'tands or a l imitednumber ofpossible ays of coordinat ing ignswith meaning poet ic,emot ive, eferent ia l ,mperat ive, hat icand meta- l inguist ic) ,whi le he concept code' stands or an accumulationfsigns,whichare coordinatedwith meanings. he signsreceive heir meaning nd their c lassi f icat ions elements fa code throughuse.The anagrammaticismn Stimmen contradicts unctionall inguist icnterpretat ions.n accordance ith JeanBaudr i l lard 'singuist icr i t ic ism,he typologyof sign-funct ionstsel fmay be understood s an addit ional rouPof signs, s one among nf ini te ly umerous odes, nsteadof as a fundamentalinguist icr inciple. audr i l lard oes notaccept he way in which RomanJakobson nd JrgenHabermasattempt to re-semantiize he sign-functionfpoet icde-semant izat ionl6y integrat ingt as a special aseinto a group with semant i iz ing ign-funct ions. lThiswoulddomesticate he power of self-referentialign-forms, hichburstsopen semantization rocesses: e potrqueestirrductible au mode de signifrcatron,ui n'est que le mode

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ValieEXPORT PeterWEIBELLindaLovelace,Mae West, Mary Stimmen usdem lnnenraum, 9B B Susanne id l ( l inks)mi tShel ley PhotoCourtesyBrucknerhaus,in z Bi ldn issenvon, und (rech ts) als, Un ica Zrn , Ad a Love lace ,

de product iondes valeursde langage. 'est pourquoi l esti r rduct ib le la l inguist ique,ui est la science e ce modede product ion. Le potique, 'est a rest i tut ion e| change ym ol iq e au coeu mme des mots. BToute forme de la valeur (objet, marchandiseou srgne)doit tre nie pour inaugurer 'change ymbolique.teIn the 'symbol ic xchange'without 'valueproduct iof l ' ,Baudr i l lard eesa way out of the attr ibut ionof meaning.The Lettr ists nd the Si tuat ionistsborrowing rom thePotlatchof the North American ndians have alsodeveloped model of value-free xchange:heconsumption f the mater ialand work valuesby thebearer of the sign n symbolic ifts s presented s thecontraposi t ion f capi tal ist icalueproduct ion ut i l i tyandexchange alu.) .20 he appropr iat ion 'dtournement ' ) fe lements rom a value-producingocietyas propagated ythe Lettr ists nd the Si tuat ionistsas been extendedbyExport and Weibel n Vorces o include he appropr iat ionof signs or a self-referential,alue-free ransformationncomputer-generatedmages. n the exchange fimmater ial ly onveyed igns, here is no wasteof mater ialand work values, ince he product ionof sign-bearerssomit ted. But the presence f sublectshat communicatewith one another s, however,alsono longeraprerequisi teor symbol ic xchange' .

I B. HEIN, Film trn Underground: Vo nKino . Frankfur ta.M, i Ber l rn iWren19 7 seinenAnfangen br s zum Unabhngtgenp l4 32 HEIN, se e note l , p .1573 G. DEBORD, La soctetedu spectac le .Parrs 1967,p . l4 , r l54 For more on the p lo t , see : A. PRANNER, Valre Export : Ernemul t tmedra leKunst le r tn ,Wren l9BB pp | | I l2 l5 For rnore on the p lo t , see ' G.J. LISCHKA (ed.1 ,A l les und noch vre l mehr- , Bern1 85 , p BB26 H.D.B. BUCHLOH, AllegortcalProcedures, rn :ArtforLtm, Sept. 1982, pp .a3567 W. BENJAMIN, Ursprung de s deutschenTrauersp te ls , rankfur ta. M 1978,pp l55ff .B Ben lamin see no te 7 , p .144) quotes Gorres f rom F. CREUZER, Symbolrkun dMythologte der alten Vlker, besondersder Grrechen,Part l , Leipzrg/DarmstadtlB l9 , p l47 f f9 B. BROCK, Asthettk gegen erzwungene Unmit te lbarkert . . .,Co logne 1986,pp 17 6 l87 ; V. EXPORT, Da s Rea leun d sernDoub le : der Korper, Bern l9B7o.35nt rh--nl0 P. BURGER, Theorre der Avantgarde, Frankfur t a .M. 1974, p . l0I I U. ZRN Gesamtausgabe, Vo lume | : Anagramme, Ber l rn gBB; P. WEIBE-,Stimmen au s dem lnnenraum. tn : Ar s Electrontca;Kunstde r Szene, BrucknerhausLrnz I98B, pp.136 l4 8 (exhrb i t ron ata logue): lso : Export, pp . l2 f f

l2 BENjAMIN, see note 7 , p . 83l3 \^/E|BEL,se e note | | , p. 13 7l4 EXPORT, se e note 9, p . l9 ; J. LACAN. Ecrits /, Parrs 197 , pp .6772, 10 3 tl5;cf . j. BAUDRILLARD, L 'changesymbohqueet la mort , Parrs1976,pp . l55-16020

l5 V, EXPORT and P. WEIBEL, Die Zweihei t der Natur, in : Computerku l tu r tageLrnz, ORF-Videonale 6, ORF Landesstudro , in z 1986,pp .aTf f (exh ib r t roncata logue)l6 Poet ic s igns efer to therr s ign-fo rm, nsteadof to the i r meanrng.l7 R. JAKOBSON, Lrngurst icsnd Poetics, n: T.A. SEBEOK,Styie rn Language,Cambridge,Mass. /London1960,pp .350377; J. HABERMAS Der ph i losophrscheDskurs de r Moderne: zwo l f Vor lesungen,Frankfur ta .M. 1985,pp .235,238lB BAUDRILLARD, se e note 14, pp .289,298 in response o: F. SAUSSURE,Cah iersd 'anagrammes,pub l ished n :J. STAROBINSKI,Le s mots sous /es mots,Par is 19 7l9 J. BAUDRILLARD, Pour une cr i t tquede I 'economie po l r tque du sgne,Parrs1972,o l4 720 The word 'po t la tch' ( can be t raced backto the Chrnookw'ord 'po tshat l ' ,wh ich means to g ive away . The Ind ians f th e Amerrcan North -West Coastappease he gods through 'po t la tch 'and secure herr socra lposrt ton hrough grfts.(H . LANG, Ku l tu rgesch ich teer lnd tanerNordamerrkas,Got t rngen l99 l , pp .32324 ' ,cf G. DEBORD, Le r le de 'Pot la tch ' ,in ' .Po t la tch , Neue Ser ie ,No . I (No.30) i 959, a per iod ica lof th e Let t r is t ic n te rna t iona l) .n 1967 Raou l Vane igemwrote , rn the senseof Marce l Mauss ' dea lof a no n recrproca l ,or ra therasymmetrrca l x t ravagance M. MAUSS, Fssar ur e don, quoted rn : G. BATAILLE,Oeuvres Compl tes,Par is 197 , Vo l . l , p .310):What w'onderfu l Potlatch', .vrthoutcounter-consideration the surplus soctety wtll gtve Crth to. whether rt wants to ornot, when th e effusivenessof the younger generation finally drscoverspure gtvtng.(R . VANEIGEY, Handbuch der Lebenskunstur dt e JungenGenera t ronen,Parrs1977,p .75 ; c f . Claude Lvr-St rauss 'n te rpre ta t ronof the exchangeof wine 'r nrestauran tsn SouthernFrance n expressrons f socra l rf ts' tC. LEVI STRAUSS,St ruktura leAnthropo log ie ,Vol. l , Frankfur t a .M. 1991,pp .364f f . i . n 1961.Vanergemsuggestedo the Srtua t ionrsts ,ha t pa in t ingsronr iean Dubuf fe t ,AsgerJorn ,Wi l lem De Koon ing ,Pab lo Prcasso, nd o thersshou ld be made ava i lab le obe dest royed 'i n a sensat iona l o t la tch (R. ORTN, PhantomAvantgarde. . . ,Hamburg 1990,p .256).Exchangewrthout va lueproduct ion and anagrammatrcrsmbecome for Baudrr l la rd pp .295f f . )mutua l lyr l lumrnat rr tgspects .

Trans la t ion rom the German by G6rard A. Goodrow an dAndreas Fr i tsch , Co logne.

Valie EXPCRT (Waltraut Hl l inger,1940,in Vienna and Milwaukee/Wisconsin.inceVideo at the Universi tyof Wisconsin.Linz, Austr ia) ivesan d worksl9B9 Professor or Fi lman d

Peter WEIBEL " 1945,Odessa) s Director of the Inst i tute or NewMedia at the Stadelschulen Frankfurta.M, since 1991.He wi l l be theCommissioner f the Austr ianPavi l ion t the Biennial f Venice 1993.Thomas DREHER '1957) is an art cr i t rcand l ives n Munich.