Pipilotti Rist: Sip My Ocean

Overview

A 30-year retrospective of one of the most dazzling pioneers of multimedia installations and experimental video art opens at the MCA this month with Pipilotti Rist: Sip my Ocean.

In what's being heralded as the most comprehensive exhibition of the Swiss artist's work ever held in an Australian gallery, you'll get to see pieces right from the start of her practice (including her early single-channel videos created during the 1980s) up to her most recent immersive environments and large-scale audio-visual installations.

A truly unique artist whose practice explores the connection between the human body, nature and technology, Rist creates colourful, enchantingly sensual worlds for viewers to lose themselves in – such as 4th Floor to Mildness, where you'll get comfy on one of 18 beds and gaze upwards at a hypnotic underwater world projected onto massive abstract panels. It's not often you lie down on a gallery floor amongst strangers to soak up some art — and its this particular atmosphere of community and togetherness within the way you experience Rist's work that cements its charm.

Taking place as part of the Sydney International Art Series, Sip My Ocean runs until February 18.

Images: Courtesy of Pipilotti Rist / Ken Leanfore for the MCA.