With immersive work “4th Floor to Mildness”, Pipilotti Rist raises difficult questions of today’s hyper-connected society
Among the twenty-one audio-visual installations showcased at The Store X’s new exhibition Strange Days: Memories of The Future, 4th Floor to Mildness — the latest work of Swiss visual artist Pipilotti Rist — particularly stands out. Highly immersive, the installation plays on emotional and physical comfort in order to raise difficult questions of communication, truth and reality.
Mostly shot under water, the video content is projected onto two asymmetrical screens hanging from the ceiling. Wooden beds from various sizes and shapes are scattered around the dark, circular room, allowing the audience to lie down, relax, and immerse themselves in the mesmerizing environment of the installation.
When plunged into this constructed dormitory, the first word that comes to mind is “safe”, quickly followed by “confusing”. The warm temperature of the emerald-hued, inclusive and comfortable space provides an automatic feeling of security, reminiscent of the inside of a gigantic aquarium. Throughout the projection, people remain silent: the room is filled with the soundtrack of the installation, a combination of underwater noises and loud Cat Power-like music from Soap&Skin, the experimental project of Austrian singer Anja Plaschg. So far, so good. However, Plaschg’s screeching “please help me” eventually breaks the dream-like atmosphere of the place, adding a confusing and almost scary aspect to it. Something is wrong here, but what is it exactly?
After spending a few minutes gathering my thoughts, it finally hits me: while the projected images vary between close-ups of immersed objects such as plastic residues, decomposing plants and female body parts, I can sometimes distinguish a familiar shape above the water surface — whether it be a tree or a flower — but these images remain blurry, as if I could never reach them. No interaction is possible between the interior and the exterior: I’m stuck in a safe place where the only thing I can do is focus on what I already know, reflecting on the outside world from my very own bubble.
Highly indicative of the hyper-connected society in which we’re evolving, my observations seem to align with the point raised by Pipilotti Rist, who claims that “today, with computers, TVs, and mobile phones, everything is flat and put behind glass — our feelings, histories, longings”. The critical notion of digital communication has often been explored by the artist, with most of her work focusing on intimacy, reality, and the impact technology has on humans’ ability to connect with each other. In fact, having developed from Super 8 films to installations spanning fully immersive environments, her work is mainly characterized by its capacity to combine the domestic and public space.
That said, the same question keeps popping in my head: is it worth prioritizing the safe and the interior over the distant, the unknown and the real? Even though my ideas on this are still scattered, I believe that engaging the audience with such interrogations, doubts and controversy was exactly the artist’s intention.
That’s where the participatory aspect of the project becomes essential: by inviting the public to be part of her work, Pipilotti Rist makes them feel important, gains their trust and catches their attention — three crucial ingredients for thought provocation. Amusingly enough, this technique seems to have become a habit for the artist, whom previous installation Mercy Garden Retour Skin (2014) was heavily relying on audience participation in order to fully blossom.
In an individualist society where authentic communication is eroded by new technologies, I think that reflecting on such topics is paramount, and thanks to 4th Floor to Mildness, I had the opportunity to do it. Through this visual, sonic and tactile installation, the artist managed to connect with her audience on an emotional level to progressively raise important and critical subjects of the every day life.
4th Floor To Mildness is showing at The Sore X, 180 The Strand until Sunday 9th December.
