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.
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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