Imagine a Roman Catholic basilica in Linz, Austria. Now imagine, tucked inside, a pipe organ designed by a groundbreaking feminist artist. Because apparently, that's where we are now. And it's glorious.
This unexpected pilgrimage was led by Dagmar Schink, managing director of the VALIE EXPORT Center, to witness the artist's final, poignant whisper to the world. VALIE EXPORT, a pioneer who challenged pretty much everything, passed away a few months after this organ was installed in 2022. Her passing left a particular ache in the feminist movement she so profoundly shaped.
The organ's facade isn't just pipes; it's a statement. Cut-out letters, backlit by colored lights, spell out a phrase from her 1970s work: "Whoever understands has wings." It projects towards the altar, a quiet, defiant beacon.
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Start Your News DetoxThe Art of Provocation and Play
EXPORT's work was never subtle, but it was always smart. Take her infamous 1968 performance, "TAP and TOUCH CINEMA." She wore a box, like a miniature movie theater, around her torso. Passersby were invited to reach inside and feel her breasts. Footage of this, originally aired by Austria's national public broadcaster, shows the public grappling with it – literally.
That same video captures EXPORT sprinting towards the camera, chanting terms like "expanded movies," "film objects," and "communication actions." This "sprinting incantation" wasn't just playful; it was an urgent declaration of her experimental spirit, spanning performance, photography, video, and even feature films.
"TAP and TOUCH CINEMA" was a direct jab at male voyeurism in cinema, a forceful assertion of female bodily autonomy. Her art, while intensely focused on the gendered body, refused easy answers to the messy questions of identity.
That phrase on the organ, "Whoever understands has wings," uses the German word "begreifen." It means to grasp something with the mind, but also physically, with a hand. EXPORT's genius was in suggesting that true understanding isn't just cerebral; it's a deeply physical act, where fingers transform into wings. Her legacy isn't just about art; it's about how art can make us rethink everything we thought we understood about history, politics, and media. And sometimes, it's about finding that message in the most unlikely of places.
