Psychiatrist Dr. Ruth Fielding wakes up in the middle of the night because she has been touched by an unknown entity, which turns out to be a female creature with “mammal features”. Dr. Fielding dubs her QM—for Queen of Mud—and begins a scientific investigation of her, leading her to increasingly isolates herself from the outside world.
Both characters, QM and Dr. Ruth Fielding, are based on earlier works by Ann-Sofi Sidén. Since the 1980s, the artist has appeared naked and covered in mud as QM in various performances and videos. These were united in the 18-channel video installation “Queen of Mud Museum” (2004–2006). The figure of Dr. Ruth Fielding was created in 1994, when Sidén discovered the estate of Dr. Alice Fabiani, a psychiatrist suffering from paranoia, in a building in New York. In QM, I Think I Call Her QM, Sidén brings the two characters together and uses the short film to explore and question the boundaries between normality and madness as well as social definitions of the feminine.
QM, I Think I Call Her QM
- Year 1997
- Edition Edition 3/10
- Material/Technique Single-channel video installation (color, sound)
- Dimensions Cinema screening or own room
- Length 28'
- Category Media Art
- Collection Sammlung Goetz, Medienkunst, München