Cyberfeminism Curatorial Statement

CyberFeminism \\ˈsī-bərˈfe-mə-ni-zəm \\ : A wave of thought, criticism, and art that emerged in the early 1990s, galvanizing a generation of feminists, before bursting along with the dot-com bubble. The term was coined simultaneously by the British cultural theorist Sadie Plant and the Australian art collective VNS Matrix in 1991, during the heady upwelling of cyberculture—that crucial moment in which the connective technology of the Internet was moving into the public sphere [1.]

For this exhibition, I have chosen to research the role CyberFeminism is playing in regards to the recent election through Political Digital Art. With the election of Donald Trump and the fear of an even larger gender gap looming over women, the same thoughts of “Can technology be the vehicle in which we break the codes of patriarchy?” [2] from the 1990’s are returning.

The “Pussy Polaroid Project” invites women use their voice and image in a collective effort to actively grab back against patriarchy. GRAB BACK: PES Feminist Incubator Space at the Project for Empty Space gallery in Newark, New Jersey, is a series of short-term residencies, which focus on the freedom and empowerment of women [3.] The “Pussy Polaroid Project,” which is an ongoing interactive project, takes place not only in the space’s Feminist Reading Lounge, but also on Instagram, with the username: @pesgrabback. Scrolling through their Instagram feed, both women and men use the Pussy Polaroid Project to share stories, show their resistance, and empower and support other women. Each person hold a sign related to what they are writing about, for example one woman, Eirini L, is holding a sign saying: “If my pussy could speak to the house it would say _____.” Her caption states, "If my pussy could speak to the house it would say: stop speaking for me." Other captions are more serious, as Christen C is holding a sign saying “I have felt threatened because of my gender affiliation.” Christen’s caption states "I have felt threatened, been threatened, been attacked. I was raped at 15 and assaulted by a boyfriend in my 20s. It wasn't my fault but I didn't really get it until I was in my 40s. Feminist art and writing saved my life. It showed me I was not alone. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about an 1828 Mvskoke law about sexual assault that ends with '...what she say, it be law.' This assumes she is believed. That assumes her autonomy. I want to eradicate rape. I want freedom and BODILY AUTONOMY for EVERYONE" - Christen C.

The Pussy Polaroid Project fits into this exhibition, as it is a response directly to comments made by President Trump. In 2005, Trump was recorded having an extremely disgusting conversation with Access Hollywood host, Billy Bush. In this conversation, Trump says, “"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything." These comments, which Trump refused to apologize for, are not only degrading, but disgusting [4.] It is scary to think that the President of the United States, who is supposes to be the voice of all of the people, can be so blatantly antifeminist, and therefore it is imperative for women to use their voices to actively grab back.

“He Will Not Divide Us” is an online performance art project created by Shia Lebeouf, Luke Turner, and Nastja Rönkkö. Commencing at 9am on January 20th, 2017, the Inauguration Date of Donald Trump, the project was intended to run as a twenty-four hour, seven day a week live stream for the duration of Trump’s presidency. The live stream took place through a camera mounted on a wall outside of the Museum of Moving Image, in Astoria, Queens, New York, where the public was invited to deliver the words “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US” into the camera. On February 10th, 2017, the Museum of Moving Image quickly abandoned the controversial piece due to it becoming a public safety hazard, and the arrest of Shia Lebeouf. On February 18th, 2017, the project was relocated to a wall outside of the El Rey Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then again quickly relocated on March 8th, 2017, to an unknown location due to gunshots being heard in the area, where the project changed. The public live performance was then replaced with a live stream of a flag with the phrase “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US,” with intention to fly for the duration of Trump’s presidency. More recently, on March 22nd, 2017, the project was taken up by the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) Gallery in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

LaBeouf, Rönkkö, and Turner are have been an artist trio since 2014, creating projects and exhibitions as well as giving multiple talks. Their combined website states, “Their participatory projects and performances utilize emotion and social interaction to foster new forms of communality across digital and physical networks” [6.] The mantra of “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US,” definitely utilizes the emotion and social interactions of citizens in regards to their feelings toward President Trump. The piece acts as a “show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community” [5.] Furthermore, it is a direct statement to President Trump, that regardless of gender, race, and all other factors, he will not divide our country.

Martha Wilson is a pioneer feminist artist and gallery director, who is known for exploring her female subjectivity through role-playing and costume transformations, where she invades other personae. “Thump” was created when Wilson started performing as Donald Trump before the election, in hopes of being able to retire the persona after November 9th, 2016, which unfortunately didn’t happen, as Trump was elected President.

Wilson chose to personify Trump, because she saw it as a chance to satirize someone who deserves to be satirized. Whenever she is in a role-playing position, Wilson says she tries to get into their mind set, but with Trump, she couldn’t nor didn’t want to get into that mind. Because of this, the performance is really just Martha Wilson dressed up as Donald Trump, speaking about how she has seen the art and politics scene has changed over the past fifty years [7.] Her performance is exhibited at The 8th Floor Gallery, which is an independent exhibition and event space in New York City.

The Guerrilla Girls are arguably the most infamous feminist activist artists of our time. Over the years, over fifty-five people have been anonymous members of the group, which keeps the focus on the issues rather than who is doing the work. Their website states, “We wear gorilla masks in public and use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. We undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. We believe in an intersectional feminism that fights discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders” [10.]

“President Trump Announces New Commemorative Months”(2016), are prints created by the Guerrilla Girls, which were handed out at the Theater of the Whitney Museum on Inauguration Day, during the program, “Speak Out on Inauguration Day” [8.] Speak Out on Inauguration Day was an event at the Whitney Museum, organized by Occupy Museums where, artists, writers, and activists were invited to come and “affirm their values to resist and reimagine the current political climate,” [11] right after the election of Donald Trump. Some of these months include changing February to “Ku Klux Klan Month,” changing March to “Locker Room Talk Month,” and changing October to “Supermodel Month.” This speaks to the President Trumps racist and misogynistic views, as well as to the fears many people are facing in this country that we are going back in history rather than moving forward.

On Friday, February 17th, protestors marched from the 2017 College Art Association (CAA) the Museum of Modern Art (Momma), with the message to Dump Trump. The protestors demanded that the MoMa remove Larry Fink due to his ties with the Trump administration. Fink, who is the CEO of BlackRock is also on the board of the MoMa. Similarly to the Whitney Museum, the Guerilla Girls were at the protest handing out prints. These prints state, “MoMa trustee and CEO of Blackrock, at a Feb. 3, 2017 meeting, advising Trump on deregulating the financial industry after his company soared to $5.1 trillion post the 2008 crash. MoMa, DUMP WHITE NATIONALISM,” and “Don’t let MoMa reduce art to the small number of artists who have won a popularity contest among big-time dealers, curators, and collectors. If museums don’t show art as DIVERSE as the cultures they claim to represent, TELL THEM they’re not showing the history of art, they are just preserving the history of Wealth and Power” [9]. Having the Guerrilla Girl’s prints at the event helped clarify to the protestors what was really going on at the MoMa, and the effect that not only Donald Trump has, but; the effect of the people associated with him can have on art and society as he hires males in the upper-class, with similar views to his own.

In conclusion, I decided to write about this topic, because it is extremely important and relevant to me. All of the works I have chosen relate to the frustrating political climate President Donald Trump has created, and in which it has become imperative for women’s voices to be heard now more than ever. Due to the rise of Digital Art, resistance CyberFeminism has become a vehicle in which both women and men are standing up for the rights of women. The “Pussy Polaroid Project,” as well as artists such as Shia LaBeouf, Nastja Rönkkö, Luke Turner, Martha Wilson, and the Guerrilla Girls are examples of this, as they have expressed their voices through their artwork, and are being heard.

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