VALIE EXPORT/PETER
WEIBEL
Mu l ti medial
f em i n i s ta r t
THCM A S D R EH E R
E XPAN DE D CI NE M A
ln 1968,the year of its founding,the UndependentFilm
Center in Munich organizedthe FrrstEuropeanMeetrngof
lndependentFilmmakers.Birgit Hein writes', The necessary
publicity for the well vrsited crnema events was provrded
by the spectacularpresentatronsof ValreExport's Tupp-
und Ta stf r lm( G r ope and T o u c h F i l m )a n d Pe te r We i b el ' s
acti o n 'Exit .' l
I n Exi t, W eibel pr ojec t e da fi l m o n to a ti n fo i l s c re e n ,unti l
he i n te rrupt edt he pr ese n ta ti o n6 y p h y s i c a l lth y re a te ni ng
t h e a u d i enc ef r om t he ci n e m a ' ss ta g e ,th e s i te o f th e
pre se n ta t ion:Roc k et bo d i e si n s te a do f mo ti o n p i c tu re s.2
Wi th th e ex puls ionf r om th e c i n e m ai n Ex i t, W e i b e l tu rned
vo ye u ri smagains tit s ow n p re mi s e s A : g g re s s i o na n d
cu ri o si ty c oupledin a p h a l l o c ra ti sc e x u a l i tyw h i c h p laces
it se l fa t th e dis pos alof t h e fe m i n i n e b e c a m eo p p o s i ng
qua l i ti e si n t he ex puls io nfro m th e c i n e m a .
ln Tapp- und Tastkrno,Export placeda box over her head
t o co ve r her ex pos ed br e a s ts ;th e o p e n fro n t o f th e b ox
was covered by a curtain.The action taking placeon stage
beca mei n v is ibleand t an g i b l e ,a s o p p o s e d to th e v i s i bl e,
inta n g i b le glim m er of t he c i n e ma .E x p o rt i n v i te d p a s sers-by
t o g ro p e t hr ough t he c u rta i nfo r 1 2 s e c o n d s .As s o o n as a
' ' tJ ta '
Va lreE X P O R T Tapp- und Tastkrno,l968
aus. ValreExport. Eine intermedtaleKunstlerrn.
Wien l9B B
passer-6yacceptedthe offer, the artist turned her head to
the si de to keep track of the ti me, A fter the ti me was up,
E xport l ooked at the persontouchi ngher and i ndicat ed
that the acti on had come to an end. E xport subj u gat ed
passers-by to a di sci pl i neof ti me, w hi ch subordi nat edt he
sub.lective senseof touch to an objectiveframework.
E xport ci rcumventedthe taboo of vi sualsexualatt r act ion
i n publ i cpl aces.B y publ i cl ypresenti ngfemal e body par t s
naked, but not vi sual l yso, she correctedthe sexual
proj ecti onfi el ds,w hi ch are establ i shed vi sual l y,but not
tacti l y,6y massreproducti ons:spectacul ar' obj ect- im ages'
(' i rages-obj ets' )3,w hi ch arousecuri osi ty,w ere not
present,B y meansof the tacti l e,E xport ci rcumvent ed
restri cti vecodesand then re-i ntroducedthem 6y meansof
the di sci pl i ne
of ti me: restri cti vecodesare, on a ta ct ile
l evel ,consi derabl more
y threateni ngfor the body and
one' s senseof hi s or her ow n body than vi sualcod ing,but
al so l esssubtl e.
FE A TU R E FILMS
B egi nni ngi n 1976, E xport and W ei bel transform
dönouementmodel sof the feature fi l m genre by m eansof
montagetechni ques,dream sequences, and pi ctorialm edia
i n the pi ctori almedi um, to make statementsfrom a
,ir.
'
fe mi n is ts t andpoint ,w h i c h , u n ti l th e n , h a d b e e n e i ther rare women were read by Widl onto an audio-cassette before
o r i mp os s iblein t his g e n re . the performanceand playedover loudspeakers together
ln a scenefrom the film UnsichtbareGegner (lnvisible with compositions6y PatriciaJunger.The texts
Adversary),which Export and Weibel realizedtogether in demonstratedhow much the feministoppositionis still a
1976177, Anna and Peter communicatewith one another consequence and therefore, althoughmore negative,a
b o th d ir ec t lyand, s im u l ta n e o u s l yb,y me a n so f mo ni tors.4 mirror of patriarchalstructures.
ln 1984, in Die Praxis der Liebe (The Practiceof Love), Computer graphicsin slidesand videos split up digitalized
Exp o r t f ilm s a m onit o r-q u a rrebl e tw e e n J u d i tha n d D r. imagesfrom Widl's impersonations of famouswomen in
JosefFrischkoff.Only Judithis present.sBoth scenesare vari ousw ays: From the l i mi ted number of shots of Widl's
d e te rm inedby c r is esw i th i n a re l a ti o n s h i pIn . b o th cases, performance,Muki Pakesch(video) and H.W, Pangratz
the monitor-imageof the masculinepart becomes (slides)generatedimages,which rangedfrom
independentof the actor; and in each case,the male reconstructions of the socialrole of the women presented
imageexplicatesthe founderingof the relationship. to completelyfree combinationsof images.
to allusions,
ln both of these feature films, reproductivemedia, such as The videoswere presentedbehindthe actressin serial
photographyand video, which are presentedin the film as sequenceson a portabl e mul ti -moni tor-w alwl , hich cover ed
part of the action, place'viewersof the film in the role of almost the entire back wall. Four electronically coupled
the observer,who observe the (observedand observing) projectorspresentedslidesnext to and over each other
observersin the film as they observe.The observedand on the back wall of the room.
observingfemale observersin the film become female
protagonistsfor viewers of both sexes:Justäs, in the film, IN TE R ME D IA L A LLE GOR IC A L P R OC E D U R ES
the actressattempts to orient herself between the
imaginary,the symbolicand the real, the viewer attempts The performanceStimmen aus dem lnnenraum
to orient his or herselfbetween his or her own reconstructsthe avant-gardemethod of montagewith
projections,the film world and the real circumstances of
theatri caland el ectroni cmedi a- medi a,w hi ch ar e older
the presentation,and the projectionin the cinema. and younger than montage itself. Montage as a
recombinationof decontextualized set piecesleadsto
M U L T IM E DI A - P ERFOR M AN C E AllegoricalProcedures6,to allusionsto world conditionsin
a state of upheaval.The allegorical in montageprocesses
Stimmen aus dem lnnenraum (Voicesfrom the Interior) rangesfrom history in a state of d ecayTto a Vitally
was produced as a commissionfor the Ars Electronicaand progressive history of humankinds:ruiningenot only allows
presentedin lgBB at the Brucknerhausin Linz. The 'medial that which has become staticto tumble down, it also
structure'was realizedby Export and Weibel. During the producesthe dynamicnecessary for change- without
p e rfo rm anc e,S us ann eWi d l d re s s e du p a s U n i c a Z ürn, constitutinga new conceptionof the world through the
Mae West, Mary Shell"y,AugustaAda Byron (Countessof contradictory relationshipof heterogeneouspartst]. In
Lovelace)and Linda Lovelace.\^/idl worked with props Stimmen aus dem lnnenrauffi,Export and Weibel choose
and gestures,which were characteristic for the women such code-fragments of the feminine,which reveal
being presented.Excerptsfrom documentsof the five themselvesas ruinsof collapsedpatriarchalconceptionsof

Peter WEIBEL On Justifyingthe Hypothetical

Nature of Art and the Non-ldenticalitywithin the
Object World. lmage of the World of Language,
1992 CourtesyGalerieTanja Grunert, Köln
the world. Computer graphicsenergizethe intercourse
with the signsof decay: static contrasts between
patriarchalsociety and futile feminine counter-movements
become feminist processesof transformation,a dialecticof
transformer and transformed.
ln Stimmen, an intermedialmontage is constitutedby the
mutual referencebetween three levels:
a.) A llvingbody (actress).
b.) Masqueradeof the actress(a.) for a simulationof roles
in real space.The roles refer to referencepoints in past
reality:The past is re-enactedas the semblanceof a
formerly livingbeing with the help of accessones.
c.) Electronicimage simulation,in which signsare rnfinitely
reproducibleand transformableand sign operationsare
reversible.The image simulationcombinesfragmentsfrom
b.) with each other as well as with additionalelements.
C.) receivesa function through b.) that refers back to
historicalhandicaps.Through the infinite,unlimrted
possibilities
of transformation,which c.) presentsin facets,
the historicalframework of b.) is revealedas being limited
and restricted by pre-codings.

ANAGRAMS

ln a text on the oerformance Stimmen aus oem

lnnenraum,Weibel placesimage simulationin connection
wi th th e anagr am sof U n i c a Z ü rn tt: fro m th e fo u n ta i n-
headsof one of the chosenwomen who struggleagainst
their pre-conditionedroles - the only one to have put an
abrupt end to her own life - Export and Weibel take
possibilities for an alternativeinterpretationof signs.
Syllables,soundsand letters can be substrtutedin anagrams
without regard for their semantics:ln anagrams,
onomatopoeic expressionsand numerous other linguistic
tricks, the word, the syllable and the sound strut,
emancipated from every semantic association, as a thing,
which may be allegorically exploited.tz
Accordingto Weibel, with referenceto the dolls of Hans
Bellmer,who was married to Zürn, the use of signs
without semanticrestrictionsis translatableinto an
anagrammaticism of the bodyt3. The double role of
B e l l me r' sdolls- of be i n gs i g n -l i k ea n d re a l s i mu l ta n eousl y,
and thus presentingas dead bodies an amalgamationof
sign-formsand sign-bearers- which allows them to
become ideal bearers of wishful phantasies,is, however,
not reoeated in the oerformance.Bellmer'sdoll mechanics
is divided in two levels:in the masquerade(b.) and the
image simulationof body set pieces(c.), and both levels
are created with and refer to a real body, to a female
protagonist(u ). By playingthrough a pluralityof
exemplaryfemale roles (b.), she runs up againstthe
border of the transgressionof establishedrole-norms,
while the image simulation(c.) has crossedthese borders.
The 'phallicsignificant'is, accordingto JacquesLacan,the
s o u rceo f div is ionson t h i s s i d e o f a n d b e y o n d a b o rd erra,
whereby both sidesare mirrors of each other. Export and
Weibel understanddivisionsin gender-specific
pairs, in analogyto Lacan,as 'binary ambivalences'-
ambivalentbecausethe binary opposition of masculine-
feminine refers to a masculinepower which produces
T he fa te s o f th e w o m e n (b .),
d i ch o tom iz at ion. ls
reconstructedby Widl with theatricalmeans,stand today
Valie EXPORT Die Praxrsder Lrebe, l9B4
aus: ValieExport. EinerntermedialeKünstlerin,Wien l98B
for a feministnegationof the phallocraticpower that had
previ ousl ynegatedthem.
In the unrestri ctedel ectroni cgenerati onof si gns(.. ) , self -
referenti altransformati ons become possi bl ebeyon d'binar y
ambi val ences'The
. di fferencebetw een the el ectronic
generati onof si gns(..) and the theatri calsi mul ationof
rol es (b ) cannot be descri bedas the di vi si onof a
phallocraticstructureinto binaryfeatures,but rather as
the yet to be and al readyarri ved at sol uti onof ' binar y
ambi val ences'C. omputer si mul ati onthemati ci zes t his
separationwith its spectrumfrom reconstructions of social
hi storyto free combi nati ons.
POTLATCH
The concept ' si gn-functi on' standsfor a l i mi tednu m ber of
possi bl ew ays of coordi nati ngsi gnsw i th meani ng(poet ic,
emoti ve, referenti ali,mperati ve,phati cand meta-linguist ic) ,
w hi l e the concept ' code' standsfor an accumul a t ion of
si gns,w hi ch are coordi natedw i th meani ngs.The signs
recei vethei r meani ngand thei r cl assi fi cati on as el em ent sof
a code through use.
The anagrammaticism in Stimmen contradictsfunctional
l i ngui sti icnterpretati ons. In accordancew i th Jean
c ti ci sm,the typol ogyof si gn-
B audri l l ard'lsi ngui sti cri
functi onsi tsel fmay be understoodas an addi ti onalgr ouP
of si gns,as one among i nfi ni tel ynumerouscodes,inst ead
of as a fundamentall i ngui sti pri c nci pl e.B audri l l arddoes not
acceptthe w ay i n w hi ch R omanJakobsonand JÜ r gen
oppositional Habermasattempt to re-semanti cize the sign-function of
poeti c de-semanti zati onlby 6 i ntegrati ngi t as a spe cialcase
i nto a group w i th semantici zi ngsi gn-functi ons.l T would
This
domesticatethe power of self-referential sign-forms,which
bursts open semantizationprocesses: Le poötrqueest
irröductible au mode de signifrcatron, qui n'est que le mode
to
l. /

ValieE X P O R T- P e t e r W E I B EL Stim m e na u s d e m ln n e n r a u m ,l9 BB S usanne Wi dl (l i nks)mi t Bi l dni s s env on, und ( r ec hts ) al s , U ni c a Z ür n, Ada L o v e l a c e ,
, a e W e s t , M a r y Sh e lle y Ph o to Co u r te syBr u cknerhaus,
LindaLov e l a c eM Li nz
d e p ro duc t iondes v al e u rsd e l a n g a g eC . ' e s t p o u rq u oi i l est
i rrö d u c t ibleä la lingui s ti q u eq,u i e s t l a s c i e n c ed e c e mode
d e p ro duc t ion... Le po Ö ti q u e ,c ' e s t l a re s ti tu ti o nd e
|'ö ch a n ges y mbolique a u c o e ur m ö m e d e s mo ts .IB
Toute forme de la valeur (objet, marchandiseou srgne)
doit ötre niöe pour inaugurer l'öchangesymbolique.te
In th e ' s y m bolicex c ha n g e w ' i th o u t ' v a l u e p ro d u c ti ofl ' ,
Ba u d ri llar ds eesa way o u t o f th e a ttri b u ti o no f me ani ng.
- b o rro w i n gfro m the
Th e L e t t r is t sand t he S i tu a ti o n i s ts
Potlatchof the North American Indians- have also
d e ve l opeda m odel of v a l u e -fre ee x c h a n g e th : e
co n su m pt ionof t he m a te ri a la n d w o rk v a l u e sb y th e
bearer of the sign in symbolicgifts is presentedas the
co n tra pos it ionof c api ta l i s tivca l u e p ro d u c ti o n(u ti l i tyand
e xch a ngev alu. ) . 20T he a p p ro p ri a ti o n(' d ö to u rn e m e nt' )of
e l e me nt sf r om a v alue -p ro d u c i nsgo c i e tya s p ro p a g ated6y
h a s b e e n e x te n d ed by
th e L e tt r is t sand t he S i tu a ti o n i s ts
Exp o rt and W eibel in V o rc e sto i n c l u d eth e a p p ro p ri ati on
of signsfor a self-referential, value-freetransformationin
co mp u t er - gener at ed im a g e s .In th e e x c h a n g eo f
i mma te r iallyc onv ey eds i g n s ,th e re i s n o w a s te o f m ateri al
a n d wor k v alues ,s inc eth e p ro d u c ti o no f s i g n -b e a rers is
o mi tte d . B ut t he pr es e n c eo f s u b l e c tsth a t c o m m u n i cate
w i th o n e anot her is , h o w e v e r, a l s o n o l o n g e ra
p re re q uis it ef or s y m b o l i ce x c h a n g e ' .
I B. HEIN, Film trn Underground: Von seinen Anfangen brs zum Unabhängtgen
Ki n o . F r a nkfu rt a .M,i B e rl rn i Wr en 197| , p l43
2 H EI N , se e n o te l , p .1 5 7
3 G . D E B OR D, L a so cte ted u spectacle. Par r s 1967, p.l4,r l5
4 F o r m o re o n th e p l o t, se e : A. PRANNER, Valr e Expor t: Er nem ulttm edr al e
Ku n s t l e r t n ,Wre n l 9 B B p p | | I l2l
5 F o r r n o r e o n th e p l o t, se e ' G.J. LISCHKA ( ed.1, Alles und noch vr el mehr - , Ber n
19 8 5 , p BB 2
6 H . D . B. B U CH L OH, A l l e g o rtcalPr ocedur es, r n: Ar tfor Ltm, Sept. 1982, pp.a3 56
7 W . BE NJA MIN, Ursp ru n g d es deutschen Tr auer sptels,Fr ankfur t a.M 1978,
pp l55ff.
B B e n l a mi n(se e n o te 7 , p .1 4 4 ) quotes Gor r es fr om F. CREUZER, Symbol r k und
Mythologte der alten Völker, besonders der Grrechen, Part l, Leipzrg/Darmstadt
l Bl 9 , p l 4 7 ff,
9 B . B R O CK , A sth e ttk g e g e n er zwungene Unmittelbar ker t..., Cologne 1986,
p p 1 7 6 l 8 7 ; V . E X P OR T , D a s Realeund ser nDouble: der Kor per , Ber n l 9B7
o.35
l 0 P. B U R GE R, T h e o rre d e r A vantgar de, Fr ankfur t a.M . 1974, p. ll0
nt rh--n
I I U . Z Ü R N Ge samta u sg a b e , Volume | : Anagr am m e, Ber lr n lgBB; P. WEIBE- ,
Stimmen aus dem lnnenraum. tn: Ars Electrontca; Kunst der Szene, Brucknerhaus
L r n z I 9 8 B , p p .1 3 6 l 4 8 (e xh rb i tr oncatalogue) :also: Expor t, pp.l2ff .
l 2 BE N j A MIN, se e n o te 7 , p . l83
l 3 \ ^ / E|B E L ,se e n o te | | , p . 1 37
l 4 EX P O R T , se e n o te 9 , p .l 9 ; J. LACAN. Ecr its //, Par r s 1971, pp.6772, 103 tl 5;
c f . j . BA UD RIL L A R D, L 'ö ch a nge sym bohque et la m or t, Par r s 1976, pp.l 55- 160
20
*ss
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-- '
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i ? ,!a
a t-.. ,-
l 5 V, EXPO R T and P. W EIBEL, D i e Z w ei hei t der N atur , i n: C om pu t e rk u l t u rt a g e
Lr nz , OR F - Vi deonal e86, OR F Landes s tudr o,Li nz 1986, pp.aT ff. ( ex h i b rt ro n
c atal ogue)
l 6 Poeti c s i gnsr efer to ther r s i gn- for m , tns teadof to thei r m eanr ng.
l 7 R . J AKOBSO N , Lr ngur s ti cand
s Poeti c s , i n: T .A. SEBEO K,Sty i e r n L a n g u a g e ,
C am br i dge, M as s ./London 1960, pp.350 377; J . H ABER M AS, D er ph i l o s o p h rs c h e
D s k ur s der M oder ne: z w ol f Vor l es ungen,F r ank fur t a.M . 1985, pp.2 3 5 , 2 3 8
l B BAU D R ILLAR D , s ee note 14, pp.289,298 i n r es pons eto: F . SA U S S U R E ,
C ahi er s d'anagr am m es , publ i s hedi n: J . ST AR OBIN SKI,Les m ots s ou s / e s mo t s ,
Par i s 197|
l 9 J . BAU D R ILLAR D , Pour une c r i ttque de I'ec onom i e pol r tque du s g n e , P a rrs
1972, o l 47
20 T he w or d'potl atc h'( c an be tr ac ed bac k to the C hr nook w 'or d'p o t s h a t l ' ,
w hi c h m eans 'to gi v e aw ay . T he Indi ansof the Am er r c an N or th- W e s t C o a s t
appeas e the gods thr ough'potl atc h'and s ec ur e ther r s oc r alpos r ttont h ro u g h g rf t s .
( H . LAN G , Kul tur ges c hi c hteder l ndtaner N or dam er r k as ,Gottr ngen l9 9 l , p p . 3 2 |
'Potl atc h', i n'. Potl atc h, N eue Ser ie , N o . I (N o .
324', c f. G. D EBO R D , Le r öl e de
30) i | 959, a per i odi c alof the Lettr i s ti c Inter nati onal ) .In 1967, R aoul V a n e i g e m
w r ote, r n the s ens e of M ar c el M aus s ' i deal of a non r ec r pr oc al ,or r a t h e r
as y m m etr r c alex tr av aganc e( M . M AU SS, F s s ars ur l e don, quoted r n: G . B A TA I L L E ,
'Po t l a t c h ' , . v rt h o u t
O euv r es C om pl ätes , Par i s 1971, Vol . l , p.310) : W hat w 'onder ful
counter-consideration the surplus soctety wtll gtve Crth to. whether rt wants to or
not, when the effusivenessof the younger generation finally drscovers pure gtvtng.
( R . VAN EIGEY, H andbuc h der Lebens k uns tfur dte J ungenGener atro n e n ,P a rrs
' rn
1977, p.75; c f. C l aude Löv r - Str aus sr' nter pr etatr onof the ex c hangeo f w i n e
r es taur antsi n Souther n F r anc e r n ex pr es s r onsof s oc r algr fts 'tC . LEV I S TR A U S S ,
Str uk tur al e Anthr opol ogi e, Vol . l , F r ank fur t a.M . 1991, pp.364ff.i . In 1 9 6 1 .
Vaner gems ugges tedto the Sr tuati onr s tsthat , pai nti ngsfr onr i ean D u b u f f e t , A s g e r
J or n, W i l l em D e Kooni ng, Pabl o Pr c as s o,and other s s houl d be m ade a v a i l a b l et o
be des tr oy ed
'i n a s ens ati onalPotl atc h ( R . OR T N , Phantom Av antg a rd e . . . ,
H am bur g 1990, p.256) . Ex c hangew r thout v al ue pr oduc ti on and ana g ra mma t rc rs m
bec om e for Baudr r l l ar d( pp.295ff.) m utual l y r l l um r natr r tg
as pec ts .
T r ans l ati on fr om the Ger m an by G 6r ar d A. Goodr ow and
Andr eas F r i ts c h, C ol ogne.
V al i e E X P C R T (Wal traut H öl l i nger, 1940, Li nz, A ustri a) l i vesand w ork s
i n V i enna and Mi l w aukee/Wi sconsi n. S i nce l 9B 9 P rofessorfor Fi l m and
V i deo at the U ni versi tyof Wi sconsi n.
P eter WE IB E L (" 1945,Odessa)i s D i rector of the Insti tutefo r N ew
i n Frankfurt a.M, si nce 1991. H e wi l l be the
Medi a at the S tadel schul e
C ommi ssi onerof the A ustri an P avi l i onat the B i enni alof V en i c e 1993.
Thomas D R E H E R('1957) i s an art cri trc and l i ves i n Muni ch.