Bunny Collective: The Young-Girl's Gaze

The Young-Girls Gaze at Soma Contemporary Gallery

The Young-Girl’s Gaze

Contents:

Soma Contemporary Gallery, Waterford Ireland.

4 - 15 Cyber-Sisterhood: Introducing Bunny Collective

by Bunny Collective May 8th - June 7th 2014

Essay by Kathryn O’Reagan B unny Collective are an all-female art collective with members based in Ireland & the UK.

16 -17 Samantha Conlon

Bunny Collective: The Young Girl’s Gaze explores how young

‘The Young Girl Declares War’

women exist online, and how the internet can be harnessed including installation, video and photography, the work on

18 - 19 Sasha Cresdee

display investigates the ways in which new internet platforms

‘Untitled’

as a mode of self-expression. Through a variety of mediums

have impacted on female identity, and in turn what it means to present yourself on-line as a female.

20 - 23 Charlotte Cullen

‘The Young-Girl’s Gaze’ was a group curation assisted by

‘soft autonomy’

Kathryn O’Reagan and Roslin Treacy.

2

24 - 25 Camilla frankl-Slater

32 - 33 Fiona Lynch

40 - 41 lucy k shaw

‘The Texture of the Cut’

‘experience 1 - 5’

‘Pretend’

26 - 27 caitlin hazell

34 - 35 louise Mckeown

42 - 43 Beth Siveyer

‘Externalisation of the teenage

‘sugar bae’

‘My Sad Diary’

28 - 29 Rosemary Kirton

36 - 37 Aoife O’Dwyer

44 - 45 Ayesha tan jones

‘Wish Liturgy’

‘the apogee of which is her face’

‘electric calcification’

30 - 31 Hannah Le Feuvre

38 - 39 vanessa omoregie

46 - 47 stacey teague

‘i think artists’

‘Venus Self’

‘Female Young Messiah’

mind away from internet’

3

Cyber-Sisterhood Introducing Bunny Collective

by Kathryn O’Reagan

“The figure of the Young-Girl is a vision machine...”

The Young-Girl has moved from her

Via webcam she photographs herself;

bedroom to the screen. Where once she

eyes wide, lips open: the perfect profile

wrote

sticker-

picture. She slithers among the wires and

studded diary, she now types on Tumblr.

climbs the cables, slinking onto the screen

Her blog is a scrapbook: a mosaic of re-

like an electrical impulse. She crawls and

posts, Youtube videos, and quotes torn

clings to the web.

in

her

glitter-speckled,

from their original context.

4

The Young-Girl invades the internet.

“Girls need modems...”

From its earliest beginnings, feminism has been criticised for its inadequate

Since the early 2000s, young women have

universalism

harnessed the internet as a space of self-

educated middle-class. The technological

expression and subversive potential. While

specificity of this new wave of feminism,

the internet is still widely considered to

which has been tentatively termed Fourth

be a ‘boys club’ and statistics prove that

Wave Feminism, can be considered to

women, on a global basis, lag behind men in

further

computer use and internet access, women’s

experiences of women in the Third World

online presence and participation is rapidly

and in developing countries, and those of

increasing.

In particular, young women

the First World. However, it equally can

and teens are turning to the internet as a

be argued that the internet, despite its

means to explore, develop and concretise

obvious shortcomings in terms of global

their individual identities. Social media

access, is a much more democratic means of

websites, such as Twitter and Facebook,

disseminating information and knowledge

and blogging platforms, for example,

than traditional mechanisms. This is where

Tumblr and Wordpress, are increasingly

the

utilised as a means to spread and promote

potential for feminism: where in the past,

political agendas, and specifically, within

feminism was largely confined to academic

this context, those of a feminist nature.

theory, pamphlets and the lecture theatre,

that

widen

internet

the

favours

gap

possesses

the

white,

between

the

revolutionary

5

the internet renders feminist discourse

In evoking Virginia Woolf’s seminal feminist

available at the mere click of a mouse.

text, A Room of One’s Own, here, Nouraie-

In this regard, feminists can mobilise

Simone establishes the internet as a space

the internet as a ‘tool’ for creating a

in which women can escape the confines

communicative space in which to discuss

of patriarchy, and embrace the potentially

and publicise ‘women’s issues’ and even

transformative

more so, as a support system in which to

possibilities of the web.

and

transgressive

resist repressive gender regimes. Of this, Fereshteh Nouraie-Simone writes:

Defined by its use of technology, Fourth Wave Feminism actualises many of the key

6

“...Cyberspace is a liberating territory

ideas of cyberfeminism since its emergence

of one’s own...The virtual nature of the

in the 1980s. In 1985 Donna Haraway’s

internet − the structure of interconnection

pivotal essay, ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science,

in cyberspace that draws participants into

Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the

ongoing discourses on issues of feminism,

Late Twentieth Century’, pre-empted this

patriarchy, and gender politics, and the

moment

textual process of self-expression without

advancement when the barrier between

the prohibition or limitation of physical

humankind and technology would be broken

space − offers new possibilities for women’s

down. ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ proposes that

agency and empowerment.”

if scientific and technological ideas and

of

pronounced

technological

perceptions be embraced, ‘a way out of

how women are presented in culture

the maze of dualisms that have explained

and mass media. In the past number of

our bodies and our tools’ may emerge.

years, feminism has moved significantly

In other words, technology may provide

into the mainstream with websites such

a way in which to evade traditional and

as Jezebel, The Hairpin and XO Jane,

essentialist modes of thought that have

and

been particularly detrimental to women.

like Feministing, providing honest and

Although Haraway’s image of the cyborg is

opinionated alternatives to conventional

in many ways highly problematic, it does

discussions of women’s experience as

serve to account for the ways in which

prevalent in the mainstream media. In

technology engenders a space in which to

2011 teen fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson

explore the multiplicities and fractures of

established Rookie as a quirky and spirited

lived identities as opposed to monolithic

alternative to sugary teen magazines, and

conceptions.

offers everything from ‘Advice from a

more

0vertly-politicised

websites

Grown Man’ to DIYS to alternative playlists Therefore, the proliferation of ‘Young-

to candid personal essays. In January 2012,

Girls’ on the internet can be thought to

The Vagenda launched on the other side

result from this desire to investigate the

of the Atlantic, explicitly aiming to ‘call the

multivalency and dynamism of female

bullshit on the mainstream women’s press’.

identity, and consequently, to intervene in

Later that year, Laura Bates founded the 7

hugely successful Everyday Sexism Project

which to articulate and explore their

as a means to document online women’s

individual identities across a transnational

daily experiences of sexism, harassment

network.

and assault.

In cyberspace, the Young-Girl is the Each of these initiatives are united by their

protagonist of her own revolution.

mutual wish to utilise the internet as a way in which to create solidarity amongst women,

“I think the sheer fact of women talking,

and to challenge typical images and ideas

being, paradoxical, inexplicable, flip, self-

of woman/girlhood. The expansion of this

destructive but above all else public is the

computer-centric, feminist conversation

most revolutionary thing in the world.”

eschews the stereotypical notion of women as ‘technophobes’ who are associated more with the home and the natural world as opposed to ‘the machine’. Indeed, this new technological strand of feminism disproves the validity of such suffocating stereotypes, and demonstrates how new internet technologies have provided selfidentified women an autonomous realm in 8

Bunny

Collective

emerges

at

this

intersection between feminist thought and

internet

technologies.

Immediate,

provocative and multifaceted: this is art for a moment of technological and feminist progress. However, at the same time, Bunny Collective presents art that is highly personal, intimate, and complex. This is art

operating

on

multiple

of

cyberspace as ‘a liberating territory of

contradiction, ambiguity and uncertainty,

one’s own’. Social media platforms are

where

things

essential to how the collective promotes

are magnified; where high meets low,

and publicises its work, and are equally

and online and offline identities collide;

important for communication amongst

where URL and IRL merge in dazzling

members

indeterminacy.

majority of the artists in the collective

seemingly

levels;

insignificant

and

possible

recruits.

The

display their work and inspirations in fluid, Established in September 2013 by Cork-

flickering Tumblr blogs, and contribute to

based visual artist Samantha Conlon,

similar feminist collectives and zines, such

Bunny Collective arose from a desire for

as The Coven, SALT, Illuminati Girl Gang and

a collaborative space amongst female

Girls Get Busy also. For Bunny Collective,

artists. Although the collective was initially

the internet offers a democratic alternative

formed at Cork’s Crawford Art College,

to the hierarchies of the established art

Bunny Collective now includes a number of

world. Much like the internet of tradition,

UK-based artists, and is, in its very essence

the art world too is an infamous ‘boys club’

then, a sort of ‘cyber-sisterhood’, stretching

where work by women artists is frequently

across

ignored, undermined and described solely

geographical

landscapes.

Indeed,

and

technological

Bunny

Collective

embraces Nouraie-Simone’s conception of

in terms of reductive, essentialist rhetoric.

In contrast, the internet, as a shifting, 9

rhizomatic web, allows women to organise

public space for herself in the virtual

themselves in opposition to hierarchal and

sphere, and a cocoon of comfort and

patriarchal structures, to challenge stifling

private reflection at home in her bedroom.

dualisms and binaries, and to exploit the

For example, Ayesha Tan-Jones’ Samsara

internet as a heterogeneous connective

is the stuff of teenage-girl dreams: a

tangle allowing for rapid and diverse

magical fort of soft, billowing walls and

conversation.

luminescent

lighting.

Samsara

offers

an immersive experience whereby the

10

Thematically, Bunny Collective presents

viewer crawls into the soothing, pre-natal

work that investigates the complexity

glow of the tent, lies on his/her back and

of female experience in the twenty first

watches video projections dance across

century, particularly in relation to how

the soft structure. This is an otherworldly

women

themselves

experience; a dreamy escape from the

in a society governed by new digital

humdrum of daily existence echoing and

technologies. Inevitably, this covers a

amplifying that feeling of clambering into

wide terrain of topics and ideas tethered

bed after a particularly long and tedious

together by a common thread of Young-

day. Hannah le Feuvre wants to make work

Girl-hood. The fusion of the public and the

that ‘looks cute and boring’ and her girlish,

private is imperative to these artists’ visual

sentimental butterflies clinging to walls

explorations: how the Young-Girl creates a

resemble those of pre-teen girl bedrooms;

and

girls

present

of samey saccharine femininity; of Claire’s

Nice Toxic Environment’, unfolding beneath

Accessories and butterfly clips and eagerly

their uncanny cropped forms. Here, Kirton

awaiting transformation into womanhood.

appears to be making a wry comment on girl-cliques, fashion-fuelled peer pressure,

Indeed, an exploration of femininity in

and how women’s internet use is commonly

the internet age lies behind many of the

reduced to browsing internet shopping

artists’ work with the signifiers of teen-

malls: ‘The Young-Girl lives at home among

girl cuteness co-opted and appropriated

commodities, which are her sisters’.

in

unnervingly-sparkly

complex

ways.

Beth Siveyer presents a plastic weekly pill

Similarly,

or vitamin box decorated in smiley-face

concerns the ubiquitous presence of the

stickers and multicoloured stars. At once,

Young-Girl within the mass media, and as

this piece suggests childhood lunchboxes,

commodity spectacle. Her work features

1990s rave culture, contraceptives, and

former child stars such as Lindsay Lohan

the secret world of feminised medication.

and Amanda Bynes, now notorious for their

Meanwhile,

parodies

highly public falls from grace, in Warhol

internet shopping websites, such as Asos

style repetitions that serve to satirise

and Boohoo, by presenting a row of smiling

contemporary celebrity obsession. Clichéd

models in tight, clingy dresses and party

phrases, pop lyrics and kitschy ‘girl-speak’

wear with the statement, ‘Member of Really

− ‘You’ll always be my boy. I’ll always’ be

Rosemary

Kirton

Samantha

Conlon’s

work

11

my boy. I’ll always’ be your girl’ − are

features the artist taking a photo of herself

juxtaposed with selfies and cryptic imagery

in a round shaving mirror. The shadowy

of private girl-worlds. Fiona Lynch engages

composition, psychological intensity of

more explicitly with the notion of the

her facial expression, and the symbolic

‘Young-Girl on the internet’ by presenting

use of the mirror bring early examples

photographic images of her own face

of female self-portraiture − ‘primordial

projected against internet search engines

selfies’, if you will −

that list results for ‘how to be a perfect

Ilse Bing and Germaine Krull, to mind. As

girl’. Her work also investigates how social

the principle prop in Lacanian identity

media websites such as Instagram operate

formation, the employment of the mirror

as archive, and how they serve to document

here is particularly significant for this

and perform personal histories.

discussion in terms of how the subject

by artists such as

comes to be realised. Equally, the mirror,

12

Inevitably, questions of identity, subjectivity

as narcissistic reflective pool, is a pivotal

and embodiment inform Bunny Collective’s

object in the day-to-day experience of the

work on both conscious and unconscious

Young-Girl. Yet, in the digital era, as Jean

levels.

collective’s

Baudrillard has stipulated, the screen and

members, Caitlin Hazell works in a variety

the network have replaced the ‘reflective

of mediums, including illustration and self-

transcendence’ of the mirror bringing about

portraiture. A particularly compelling work

a radical transformation of the subject.

Like

many

of

the

While

Bunny

members

The tactility of these unassuming works

embrace

instigates a synaesthetic or haptic mode

the impact of digital technologies on

of looking that rejects the purely ocular-

the female subject that is not to say that

centric conception of contemporary vision.

alternatively

Collective’s

interrogate

and

they are making art for a disembodied cyborg future, as imagined by Haraway.

Ultimately, as the title of the show suggests,

Rather, the pulsating vibrancy of the

this is an exhibition centred on the Young-

body is very much present in many of the

Girl’s gaze. It is about investigating what it

artists’ work. In between her explorations

means for the Young-Girl to look: to actively

of

witchcraft,

see rather than to merely be the passive

Louise McKeown’s photographic work is

object of ‘to-be-looked-at-ness’. Yet, Bunny

marked by its extraordinary sensitivity

Collective: The Young-Girl’s Gaze is not just

to the human body. A female subject,

about reversing the hegemonic male gaze;

alternatively bathing in a bare bathtub,

more so, it is about celebrating the Young-

or playfully doused in rainbow glitter, is

Girl’s gaze on its own terms; as a dynamic

treated with tender compassion under

force in its own right that is free to take

McKeown’s attentive rather than invasive

a quizzical look at art history as Vanessa

lens. On a different note, Sasha Cressdee

Omoregie’s work does, or communicate in

creates highly textural collages in pastel

terms of enigmatic visual poetics as Aoife

tones that recall those of Hannah Höch.

O’ Dwyer’s photographs do. In feminist

teenage

obsession

and

13

Bunny

Collective

both

queries

and

appreciates femininity, but femininity as a complex and shifting concept that does not only function as the binary opposite of masculinity. Instead, femininity, much like feminism, is a process, a conversation, a question rather than an answer, and the Young-Girl’s gaze is the driving force. On, before and beyond the screen, her gaze, gleaming in gold glitter, sees into those spaces that are overlooked or undermined, celebrated or ridiculed, and intervenes. The Young-Girl’s gaze is guilty, flirty, searching, seductive, difficult, dissident, confused, complicated, uncompromising, forgiving, forgetful,

loving,

loathing,

assured,

uncertain, contradictory, everything at once.

One thing is for certain though: 14

the Young-Girl never

stops looking.

15

Samamtha Conlon The Young-Girl is a construct originating in Tiqqun’s 1999 paper titled ‘Raw Materials for the theory of the Young-Girl’. Translated into English in 2012 the piece was popularized and spurred a chain of critical reactions in various fields. In the essay Tiqqun present a character that is corrupted by capitalism, all areas of early feminine identity; make up, hair, clothes, shopping, sexuality are under attack.

Tiqqun introduce us to a seemingly evil force which is that of the Young-Girl.

They begin the paper with a quote from Hamlet that reads ‘I did love you once’, considering 16

the critical tone of the following writing this can be read as a symbol of the opposing force of the Young-Girl (let’s say the Young-Man, or all else) giving up hope on this lost individual.

The Young-Girl is good for nothing but consuming; leisure or work, it makes no difference.

In the eyes of the Young-Girl everything turns to dust, the Young-Girl is an endless void, a nothing where capitalism triumphs. The world at odds lies in the Young-Girl. The Young-Girl buys what she is sold.

To To To To

be watched and like it. be what a girl means. kiss. buy.

I’m just a face without a choice.

To Tiqqun the Young-Girl is a range of statistics. Data to show downfall.

We are to fear the rise of the Young-Girl. We are to fear the rise of commodities. Look at the YoungGirl.

The Young-Girl is the spitting image of the total and sovereign consumer; and that’show she behaves in all realms of existence.

The Young-Girl Declares War Samantha Conlon

17

Sasha Cresdee Sasha Cresdee is currently studying Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design.

Exploring the self using sculptural collage, visual

rhyme

schemes,

voids,

edges,

differences, and layers of documentation and representation.

Untitled Sasha Cresdee

18

19

Charlotte Cullen recently bleached soft autonomy Charlotte Cullen, 2014

her hair; a decision she regrets.

Her work explores the pageantry of artifice and she has learnt how to make her being soft, if you want she can show you how.

She has exhibited in London, Copenhagen and New York, spoken at The V&A and been featured in publications including SALT., OOMK and Hag. She is resident artist and curator at soft(2)touch experimental project space in Huddersfield, where she is also a doctoral research candidate at the University.

Her being is malleable baby, she needs you (to want her).

Charlotte Cullen soft autonomy Charlotte Cullen, 2014

20

We are malleable, ready to be crafted.

To become one must first acquire the

To be crafted we must first accept that

skills necessary for such craft.

we are not whole and that transition is

craft (kr ft)

necessary to facilitate our progression.

It is hoped that we become. That we will

n.

become; become something based upon the parameters previously set. Our task is

1. Skill in doing or making something, as in

to learn this craft, these skills as laid down

the arts; proficiency.

before us, yet we must also appear fresh.

Could there be anything worse than to

2. Skill in evasion or deception; guile.

not be new? Our newness gives us worth.

Therefore we do not become, our becoming

3. a. An occupation or trade requiring

is what defines us, it is continuous and

manual dexterity or skilled artistry.

constant and we must learn to become

b. The membership of such an

with such craft that it does not allow us to

occupation or trade; guild.

have become at all.

21

To become one must first acquire the skills

fragmentations of the virtual omnipresent,

necessary for such craft.

only to be undone so to become again.

And that is why I have put this tutorial

We do not become, our becoming is what

together for you. I can’t be in the same

defines us.

room as you, I may even be half way across the world from where you live, but I hope

There are lots of different methods for this

you will agree that this is the next best

technique, there’s no definitive right or

thing; and you don’t even have to offer me

wrong but the way I am going to show you,

a biscuit. I know that many people find the

in this tutorial, works well for me. I enjoy

idea of changing quite scary and perhaps

combining this technique and I’m sure you

they’re not too confident about the whole

will too once you have learnt the skills

idea; and that’s the subject of this tutorial.

you need and because it’s fun to create

Like

complicated

something while you learn we are going to

processes it’s easy when you know how;

use a real project that is interesting and

and even easier when you have someone

fresh and which I also hope will inspire you

to show you how.

to produce your own piece of work, with all

a

lot

of

seemingly

the satisfaction which goes with creating Is this craft skill or guile, and how does one obtain it? We create ourselves from the 22

something unique.

One is not whole without their virtual being, but what does this mean of oneself as material, and how does this entice such becoming?

We must imitate until we acquire such craft that we become the consequence, for there is no original to what we seek. I think I should say all the way through; this is my

To be continually becoming;

that is the true craft.

- Charlotte Cullen

way of doing things, it may or may not be the right way, but it works for me.

soft autonomy Charlotte Cullen, 2014

23

Camilla Frankl-Slater ‘The Texture Of The Cut’ Camilla Frankl-Slater is an artist based in london and a student at Camberwell College of Art. Her piece explores the themes of the wounded body, the absent presence, disintergration and loss.

You can see more of her work here: http://workbycamilla.tumblr.com and say hi to her here: http://twitter.com/c_amilla

24

The Texture of the Cut Camilla Frankl-Slater

25

‘Externalisation of the teenage mind away from internet’

The work focuses on conveying and externalising internal emotion and thought. In this case the artist was interested in the mind away from the internet, in particular from blogging platforms, where it’s so easy to instantly share and overshare the things on the mind.

The modern mind usually wanders to technology when faced with idle time. The artist used sewing cathartic process to flesh out her spontaneous thoughts, ideas and influences onto the shirt, and to have everything in one safe place, despite it all being out in the open, an act of curation. The physical act of sewing acts almost in defiance with the nature of blogging, what was once instant now takes time and in the time more meaning can be created. The shirt is a solid wearable thing, whereas with the internet, the self can be erased, changed, sculpted, even lost, and personas can be formed.

26

caitlin Hazell Caitlin Hazell is 19 and studying foundation diploma art, with plans to move to London in September to continue studying Fine Art there at university. She likes to create work to try to bridge between herself and other people by using common themes such as the human body and emotions.

Externalisation of the teenage mind away from internet Caitlin Hazell

27

Rosemary Kirton I write, draw and play. So far in 2014 Eitherand.org

and

Noon

Magazine

published my writing and I have a few exhibitions across Europe.

Here’s my site for inconsistent updates www.grossmary.tumblr.com

Wish Liturgy Rosemary Kirton

28

Wish Liturgy First of all I want to thank everyone whose helped me so far! Thanks, I love you! I am on my sickbed, the cash confidence that flows through my veins has dried up and there’s no doctor or donor in sight so I’m selfmedicating. Been looking into alternative medicine, skipping first and second opinions. I prescribe a series of wishlists to improve my condition; please help me find balance by granting my Melancholic, Phlegmatic, Sanguine or Choleric wishes. (A pencil and watercolour image of a glowing child knelt at its bed, hands clasped, in deep communication.) “Desire is presumptuous and precarious, willing desires into being is an attempt to accelerate or shift vast mechanisms of circumstance by punching them in the gut; philosophical bowels will be philosophical bowels.“ Wishes usually take a bit of crowdsourcing. Fairy Godmother drinks a lot more these days- the job ain’t what it used to be and she can’t even remember how she got into the business. It’s the pressure to balance ratios of wish necessity, grant efficacy and post-grant satisfaction, streamlining the entire process through intensive knowledge shares, reinvigorating through fusion. As a freelance wisher, I bring my own unique take on my desires to the table, employing contemporary and traditional methods to achieve a really great wish. With a dedication to sustainable practice, taking care and attention to recognize wish granting as commune with the living-dead; plumping their pillows. I look forward to your toxicology rapport!

Yours Sincerely, Rosemary Kirton.

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i think artists Hannah Le Feuvre

30

Hannah Le feuvre Hannah is 20, living and making stuff i think artists Hannah Le Feuvre

online and in London <3 Its about working your way up but mostly just about work. I want to know how long it will take me to get good and small talk and I want to know how to make the things to make you love me more. Speak as much as you need to speak (wink), keep your eyes on the prize and let everyone know you mean business- itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about being cheeky and polite. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about bad business.

31

Fiona Lynch Fiona H. Lynch. Based in Cork. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The smallest little thing can be a great subject. The human detail can be a Leitmotivâ&#x20AC;?.

experience 1 - 5 (installation view) Fiona Lynch

32

This work aims to give the viewer an insight in to the romanticized world of its creator. Presenting selected â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;realitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to the outside world has become a growing trend in our internetdriven society. For some, it provides the opportunity to sugarcoat their experiences and show the world the rosy-tinted version of their existence.

The work revolves around the desire to create an atmosphere or ambiance, which reflects the dream world in which the creator lives. The subject within the image is secondary. The moment itself, and being present within it, is an important factor.

The experience is essential. experience 1 - 5 (installation view) Fiona Lynch

33

sugar bae Louise McKeown

34

Louise Mckeown Louise is 21 based in Cork, Ireland specializing in photography and installation.

sugar bae Louise McKeown

35

Aoife Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Dwyer I am based in Co. Cork where I obsess over the nature of perception and identity at length.

Photography is at the center of how I explore visually but my work as a web designer has brought me closer to the potential of digital, web and technology based work that incorporates interaction and participation.

This piece relates to how the Young-Girl interacts with her own image both online and IRL (in real life). the apogee of which is her face Aoife Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Dwyer

36

“The Young-Girl desires the Young-Girl.

The Young-Girl is the Young-Girl’s ideal.”

37

“Venus Self, 2014” The artist as Henry Courtney Selous conceiving “The Birth of Venus”, Venus Self depicts the goddess within the screen space, a digital interpretation of her being.

Her image is deconstructed and allows her to exist without a body.

Venus is fragmented, Venus is a file format, Venus zoomed in too much,Venus as a (kind of) tangible being, Venus is ready for download.

Venus Self Vanessa Omoregie

38

Venus Self Vanessa Omoregie

Vanessa omoregie Vanessa Omoregie is a multimedia artist and young creative based in London.

Working with the Internet and the spaces within cyber culture as a medium, she creates work in web art, photography, styling and web design that deals with themes of youth, girl-hood and sense of being. www.vnsssaa.tumblr.com

Venus Self Vanessa Omoregie

39

Lucy k Shaw ‘PRETEND’ continues the exploration of a theme I

became interested in while developing video poems such as ‘PART OF YOUR WORLD’, ‘LOVE IN THE TIME OF GOOGLE ANALYTICS’ & most recently, ‘HAND ON MY DICK IN MY THOUSAND DOLLAR JEANS’, which have all unconsciously followed a loose formula: I use a combination of distantly familiar, emphatic, instrumental music and, it seems, increasingly iconic, memorable imagery to juxtapose the content of my poetry which is often informed by personal disappointment and quotidian minutiae, to create an elevated, and cinematic depiction of a character which feels more in line with how I expected adult life to be when I was growing up as a young girl in a boring place. I credit these expectations to an overexposure to Walt Disney animation & other fairy tales.

40

PRETEND, in its earliest stages, was

inspired by imagery from The Wizard of Oz, and specifically the good witch vs bad witch trope, although this line of thought was eventually cut from the final video. (The only thing which remains from that idea is the video setting which nods towards the movieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s poppy fields). The girl in the video is actually my younger sister, which, for me, provides something additional to the overall sense of darkness in the piece.

The written content is taken from a much longer piece. I made the decision for PRETEND to be a very short video in order to achieve maximum emotional Pretend Lucy K Shaw

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I wish I had I thought of that.

I wish I looked like her.

I wish I had that confidence.

I wish I could just think of something.

I wish wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t such a loser.

My Sad Diary, An Archive of Sadness is a personal experiment that allows me to be creative when I am struggling to be creative. The selfies were taken at some of my lowest moments in the past year and by confronting myself with these images I hope to be free of the pressure I put on myself.

My Sad Diary Beth Siveyer

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Beth Siveyer 25/F/London Curator of Girls Get Busy; a feminist blog and zine that supports female-identified artists, writers and musicians.

Co-Founder of embroidered hat brand Beanie Babes. bethsiveyer.tumblr.com beaniebabesclub.com girlsgetbusyzine.tumblr.com

My Sad Diary Beth Siveyer

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ayesha tan jones unaJynxx b.1997 virgo 20/20 vision in all 3 eyes

electric calcification Una Jynxx

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st8ment: creating visual and audio alchemy in an attempt 2 spread awareness of the mind-

electric calcification Una Jynxx

control we are currently fighting against. the conscious message that we are all one global brain is falsely stimulated by the internet, connecting us to higher planes and a wider knowledge base, but we must use this technology as a tool rather than a replacement for our psychic abilities, because with true dedication and practice we can all become the true super human beings we have always wanted 2 b. love and light unaJynXx www.oraceloftheinternet-97.tumblr.com

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‘Female Young Messiah’ is a series of photographs in response to Tiqqun’s paper ‘Preliminary materials for the theory of a Young-Girl’. This work pairs photographs of friends with text taken directly from or related to Tiqqun’s text. Each statement asserts something different about the “Young-Girl”, that she is deceptive, naïve, aloof, giving the images context. It introduces the Female as a god, an idol, however false.

stacey teague Stacey Teague is from Auckland, New Zealand, currently living in London.

Her first book of poetry, Takahe, is forthcoming in Summer 2014 via

The text encourages the viewer to make simplistic, reductive associations with the images, whereas the photos themselves offer a broader interpretation. By drawing attention to the relationship between text and image, we can reduce the notion of the “Young-Girl” as a text to something more malleable.

The Young-Girl is everything, anything.

The Young-Girl erases the meaning of The Young-Girl.

The Young-Girl is my friend.

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Female Young Messiah Stacey Teague

Female Young Messiah Stacey Teague

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Bunny Collective: The Young-Girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gaze Soma Contemporary Gallery 6 Lombard Street Waterford Ireland Open Wed - Sat / 12pm - 5pm / until June 7th

bunnycollective.com Designed by Aoife Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Dwyer - aoifeodwyer.com