Pipilotti Rist

Photo by Raphael Zubler, courtesy raphaelzubler.com

Pipilotti Rist

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In the spring. It depends on which festivals take it, if any.

How was the process different from your usual work?

I enjoyed it very much. I have a decent position as a video artist, but even with my budget, I cannot afford many professional coworkers. If you want to do a long story, you really need more people so that it all holds together. Working with professionals in a bigger, harmonic group was a beautiful feeling.

Your work is often characterized as feminist, and many of your videos deal with the limitations and stereotypes that women face. You also make use of some stereotypically feminine imagery — flowers in particular. How do these two trends relate? To me it seems like you’re reappropriating clichés of femininity.

Yes, you’re right. I’m interested in the activities that are associated with women, like gardening and decorating. I appreciate these things a lot, and I’m afraid that we’re losing them: To have equal rights and duties doesn’t mean we have to give up our own culture.

Also, for me, flowers are very symbolic. They were here before we were. When Georgia O’Keeffe did her flower paintings, she said, “I want to force New York people to look really closely again.” That’s always stayed with me. Those things, like flowers, really have a huge variety of meanings, and we should not be stuck looking at them and saying, “Oh, they’re decorative.” We would miss a lot of the world.