Her voice rises: sound, writing and ventriloquism in the work of Lis Rhodes

This presentation discussed feminist approaches to sound in experimental filmmaking in the UK through examination of artist Lis Rhodes. Using her early works Light Music (1975) and Pictures on Pink Paper (1982) alongside recent interviews/discussions with her, these works punctuated an overview of this period, which saw significant changes in approaches to feminist sound, film, video and performance. Focussing the use of voice in Rhodes’ works and writings, discussion of sound and voice theory alongside Rebecca Schneider’s questioning of ephemerality and the archive in ‘Performance Remains’ (2001) discussion unpacked the 'ventriloquial' (Connor, 2000) dynamics of the voice in feminist filmmaking and to consider the dual situation through which it both detaches from and reconnects to/with other subjects and objects. The paper aimed to re-position language on archives and feminism in art history whilst foregrounding the (currently under-discussed) use of sound in cinema and media studies. It is based on a chapter in a monograph on the intersections between feminist experimental film/performance and music.