Pipilotti Rist’s audiovisual installation My Boy, My Horse, My Dog (1997) was created in connection with the performative work Shooting Divas (1996), which was presented at the Center d’art contemporain in Geneva. In this framework, the artist set up a casting studio with spotlights, cameras and a mixer in the exhibition space, allowing visitors to follow in real time the production process of a new work.
Rist asked various participants to sing one of two songs she had composed with Andreas Guggisberg. One such participant was the Zurich-based Kazakh-Turkish performer and singer Saadet Türköz. In the film My Boy, My Horse, My Dog viewers see the slender, dark-haired woman in a light blue lace blouse swaying to the beat of the music with a dreamy facial expression and swinging arms. The surprise is perfect when Türköz begins to sing a poetically surreal song in Turkish in a hoarse, dark voice about an intimate physical connection with a man. Her delicate appearance stands in stark contrast to her powerful voice, as well as to the song’s intimate content. Those who do not understand Turkish most likely will focus on Türköz’s expressive performance and her extraordinary voice, with which she combines both female and male elements.
In addition to the video film, the installation My Boy, My Horse, My Dog also includes a projection with 20 slides; created in Geneva as part of Shooting Divas, it provides insights into the work’s production process.
