What is our relation to bodies in an online environment? How do we translate layers of our persona from digital to physical? Can digital media take us beyond our human condition? Can online collectivity help us find senses of togetherness in a multispecies perspective?
From virtual backgrounds, face filters to avatar creation and experimental platforms, the ways to meet online have multiplied, together with new possibilities to construct our online selves. Curious of how this supports the evolution of our identity(ies) as individuals and collectives, we started a group research with artists Anne Horel, Matias Brunacci, Sandrine Deumier and Oliver Hunter Pohorille. Together with curator Manique Hendricks and Aynouk Tan, we discussed what are the masks and filters in our social encounters and the roles we give them. Diving further we used the creative processes of our guests to question the role of digital culture in the transformations of our beings.
Embracing the clumsiness of our time, we are presenting 4 chapters experimenting with our topic and the shape of our program. We are combining online and afk presentations, talks, performances and screening.
“Synthetic identities” was the prologue of this research, presented at GOGBOT
Chapter 1 Queer embodiment with Matias Brunacci
Chapter 2 Pluriform identities with Oliver Hunter Pohorille aka SCUMBOY
Chapter 3 Beyond human with Sandrine Deumier
Chapter 4 Digital togetherness with Anne Horel
The cyberfeminists of the 90s saw the virtual world as an opportunity to abandon the sexist social conditions of the physical world. Online, the boundaries between binaries such as man/woman, human/animal and natural/artificial could be rejected. As the dot-com bubble burst, so did the techno-utopian dreams of a radical feminist takeover. We now unfortunately know that misogyny, racism, and bigotry are as prevalent online as they are in real life. The internet simply copied the social conditions of the real world. So what happens when queer people craft new virtual bodies in online spaces? Are we still bound to the rules of physicality and existing binary structures? And how can queerness disrupt what virtual bodies look like?
Queer embodiment: a VR speculative body experience is the title of Matias Brunacci’s research based artwork. In this Virtual Reality experience you can feel what it’s like to inhabit another, virtual, body that is not bound to gender norms. Put on the headset and choose one of the seventeen avatar’s made by the artist and become another person and leave your physical self behind for just a moment. Move your arms, look up and down and discover your reflection in the mirror, what does it feel like?
Monday 29 nov 19.00 to 21.00 Accessible from the festival and Youtube channel
With Matias Brunacci, Stella Marbles, Lena Kuzmich, Mala Badi
Moderated by Aynouk Tan and Manique Hendricks
Chapter 1 Link
How does your physical identity differentiate from your online persona? Or are they the same? Our identities exist out of multiple layers in different layers; our experiences, memories, surroundings, virtual presence, the clothes we wear all make up our identities. This spectrum of being can be constantly evolving and ever changing, and has proven to be a very interesting subject for artists. The fact that we can use online platforms and social media to add to our own identities presents many possibilities, but can also make self-discovery a very complex process. How does the generation that was raised on the internet deal with this? And who do you want to become when you can pick and choose?
Oliver Hunter Pohorille AKA Scum Boy researches the multiplicity of identity and being in his new work SEDIMENT. The project consists of stills and animation. SEDIMENT zooms in on the various layers and complexities that make up the human condition, comprising the process of self discovery. SEDIMENT is created through various digital overlay processes, combining 3D design, AI neural network image creation and text input by the artist.
Tuesday 30 nov 19.00 to 21.00 Accessible from the festival and Youtube channel
With Oliver Hunter Pohorill aka Scumboy, Natalie Paneng, Marijke de Roover, Molly Soda
Moderated by Aynouk Tan and Manique Hendricks
Chapter 2 Link
Thinking about how we, as humans, relate to other species has changed a lot over the past decades. Central to this is the idea that humans might not be the most important entity on this planet. In fact, we’re ruining the place! So we might ask: What kind of species can we become in the virtual day and age? How can we move beyond the human and become other creatures or a non human entity?
Vibrissae are stiff hairs on the face and nostrils of animals, such as the whiskers of a cat, the hairlike feathers around the bill and eyes of insect-feeding birds, the paired bristles near the mouth of certain flies or the sensitive hairs of insectivorous plants. Vibrissae often act as tactile organs and bring other senses into play such as feeling and touch. Artist Sandrine Deumier wonders if the human face could have another function, playing with our expressive and receptive senses by combining animal features and hairs. Wouldn’t it be great to enjoy other senses and experience new things by growing some digital whiskers? Try on Sandrine’s facefilter and find out!
Thursday 2 dec 19.00 to 21.00 Accessible from the festival and Youtube channel
With Sandrine Deumier, Valentina Gal and more guests to be announced
Moderated by Aynouk Tan and Manique Hendricks
Chapter 3 Link
During the pandemic, we have experienced many ways of communal communication and getting together online; from Clubhouse to Zoom and from Microsoft teams to Instagram live. Many people and organizations have struggled with organizing hybrid events and get-togethers. Others are just tired (hello Zoom fatigue). How can we connect on a more intimate level, and exchange creativity and enjoy each other's online presence? What are the possibilities of collective creation and togetherness in digital spaces? Can we create more systems of togetherness online through communal identities?
Artist Anne Horel developed an artwork in the form of a facefilter for you to try on. This filter, existing out of dolphins, grilled cheese, hearts and tears is the outcome of a collective effort. Anne used different elements that other people have gathered and used them to create a collective artwork.
Friday 3 dec 16.00 to 18.00 Accessible from the festival and Youtube channel
With Anne Horel, Lilian Stolk, Yin Aiwen, Martine Stig
Moderated by Aynouk Tan and Manique Hendricks
Chapter 4 Link