Pipilotti Rist, I’m not the Girl Who Misses Much, (1986)

Video stills 5 min, 2 sec  color sound

In her early work, Rist appropriated the pop music video format, undercutting it with a feminist agenda. The video seems to be on fast forward: the imagery is jerky and blurred. While the soundtrack repeats the title again and again at a very fast and shrill pace conveying a sense of desperation. Only at the end of the 5 minute loop is the Beatles’ song, “Happiness is a warn Gun revealed as the source. This juxtaposition of the meaning of the words with a feeling of panic undermines the glamour of the standard pop video, Rist re-represents the male musicians muse in terms of insecurity, repetition and hysteria. While reframing his gaze with staccato cutting to render the female body impossible to pin down or hold still.