Quick Thoughts on 'No/Nose/Knows'

No/Nose/Knows by Mika Rottenberg

It was incredibly fascinating to see Rottenberg’s short film No/Nose/Knows. The surrealist film was infused with symbolism and unpredictability. The film began with a woman entering into various rooms. It almost felt like the rooms indicated a never-ending loop or a constant problem. Each of the bubbles was of different shapes and sizes and produced different sounds almost indicating towards different atmospheres or places; on a more visual sense, the bubbles represented nasal mucus that would pop as her sneezes released different cuisines (corresponding to the different sounds). The entire film essentially emphasizes on a dream that one of the workers is at the pearl sorting factory is having. This is sort of reiterated through the long nose, instantly reminding me of Pinocchio’s story as a reference to the film being a lie or being fake. It was interesting to see the oyster shells being recycled or refilled after the extraction of the pearls. The film emphasizes various kinds of power and control and market competitiveness. There are repetitive scenes of the division of labour versus one person working. While all the workers are working on oyster shells; we see the superior power working sneezing her way through various kinds of pasta, bringing up this question of what/who are the workers working towards/for? The scene where one of the workers has her feet in a bucket of pearls raises many questions. Pearls are oftentimes a symbol of wealth, purity and wisdom. Dipping feet into a bucket full of such symbolic meanings could make us wonder if the artist is questioning the existence of the economic system. I think the sneezing to create food and the rooms with the bubbles are parts that I’ll probably remember most. Rottenberg does an amazing job with the film, leaving us with questions both visually and conceptually.