‘Her crotchless trousers are etched in my brain for ever’ Valie Export remembered by the artists she influenced

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‘The female body is not a polite object’
Florentina Holzinger

I wrote a paper on Valie Export back in high school when I was 14. I have always taken legacy seriously; much of my own work evolves around what has been, and what those histories mean for us today.

It is 1969 when Genital Panic happens. Valie walks into an experimental cinema in Munich wearing crotchless jeans. She moves slowly, row by row, forcing her exposed genitalia to eye-level with the seated audience.

Fast forward to today. We find ourselves in an entirely new landscape: We are drowning in algorithmic thirst traps, free internet porn etc, not to mention the rotting political backlash trying to legislate bodies back into the dark ages. So yes: the core political necessity to subvert how we handle nudity and real bodies endures. In fact, it has become more urgent and complicated than ever.

Thank you, Valie, for paving the way and for articulating this reality with such crystal clarity: the female body is not a polite object. It can be a registered trademark – a weapon to be exported directly against the structures we choose to battle. Rest in peace.