Anne de Haan on Tue, 17 Jun 1997 09:16:37 +0200 (MET DST) |
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Re: <nettime> Translation: The vagina is the boss on internet |
At 16:06 16-06-97 +0200, you wrote: >Aloha! > >Good explanation of the thing I'm more and more calling sick. More of it >I don't understand, but usually feminists are transplanting their personal >accidents, their personal experiences, i.e. misunderstandings with their >partners into common market. So their goal is make war not love (I'm not >hippy, so don't worry), if it's not another woman, of course. So is this a >form of solidarity or just a way of expressing their sexual behavior. >Plain gender, pure sex and nothing else. I don't think relationships >should be built or focused on that. It's very animalic. And even less, I >don't think excusses on political or social engagements should be raised >from plain personal - intimate thing. It takes (at least) two for any kind >of relation, communication. And here goes Internet, interactivity, etc. >There's never just one who takes the blame, even when it's man. >And I'm ignorant to all 'women only' projects. It sounds like 'white >only'. Sometimes I'm mad, sometimes I'm laughing at it. When women are >pointing out just their vagina (like feminists do) they make a very bad >reputation of themselves, and all women of course. This is plain racism >and pure agression. Make them read Camille Paglia. >Where are there heads, their brains, their feelings, their emotions, if >just vagina or penis is all that matters? So feminists are making animals >out of women, even if I think that animals are more intelligent than some >of them. Yes, I like Duchamp, I like Gertrude Stein, I like Orlan, >I like Stelarc, I like Beatles, I like Spice Girls, I like ninties, the >age of transsexuality and androginity and nature, that made genders. I'm >heterosexual and I'm not pointing it out whenever I'm talking to audience >I'm not making my political state out of it. It's ridiculous to be based >just on sexual orientation or even sexual needs, on something between our >legs. There are many 'hot lines' for that. Let's be civilised and maybe >intelectual. > >Best, >Peter > >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >Multimedia center KiberSRCeLab - KIBLA >Kneza Koclja 9 >2000 Maribor >Slovenia >tel: +386 62 2294012, 2294013 >fax: +386 62 225376 >http://www.kibla.org >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > >On Mon, 16 Jun 1997, Anne de Haan wrote: > >> The vagina is the boss on internet >> >> New media female artists inspired by erotics, identity and social interaction >> >> Surfing on the internet I find the ‘Virtual Themepark’ from the most >> interesting cyberfeminist artist group VNS Matrix. It all sounds very >> promising and as a hetero woman I click on the Viral Pleasureworld. I am >> dissappointed, because I do not find any beautiful naked men on the screen, >> but a universe with purple planets and the text ‘Viral Pleasure World’. As >> soon as I want to continue I always come back on the first page. Only at >> "The end of the World" I finally get to the "Filthy Genderworld" where I >> see a group of tiny little people who are licking eachother. Furtheron I >> step on Gashgirl’s homepage, who’s real name is Francesca da Rimini. This is >> one of the ladies from VNS Matrix. On this page I finally find some more >> ‘information’ about their work: wordmixture of textfragments from >> SM-stories, filmtitles and computerterminology that are connected to >> eachother. The title above this page says enough: "GenderFuckMebacy’s palace >> of Unparalleled Cynicism", oldfashioned artistic enigmas that are larded >> with sensual quotes, to which’s meaning you can quest for hours and hours >> being an outsider. >> >> Cyberslut >> >> VNS (VeNuS) Matrix wants to create confusion. The four Australian ladies >> want to make chaos in the standards and values from today’s society, because >> they do not agree with the woman’s status within. They make electronic art >> that questions the computer mass culture and her products in a playfull but >> brutal feministic way. VNS matrix acts on a humorous way against men’s >> women-unfriendly and sexistic outbursts on the internet. These >> cyberfeminists are not afraid to use any means to achieve their aim. So they >> are not agianst sex, porno or even against men. They think that it is only >> just about time that women take control on the internet from men, because >> men behave badly. Still too many women suffer from obscene remarks. >> >> The Corpus FantasticaMOO, an internet game, illustrates clearly how obscene >> creeps should be punished. VNS Matrix, virtually pierced, masked, harnesed >> and weaponed with the most horrible torturestuff, enters dark >> internetsurroundings by psuedonyms like Psybapussy and Cyberslut. There they >> terrorize everything male as soon as it logs in in this Tartaros-like >> domain. Someone who entered as Quentin Tarrantino, for example, was almost >> sent to the virtual heaven by Psybapussy’s dangerous C46-weapon. The girls >> are the boss and their feminity is sacred. The core of their realm, the >> Matrix, can only be reached by the virtual clitoris. The vagina is the >> symbol of the female power. In their "Bitch Mo Manifesto" the ladies swank >> about making art with their cunt. Their pussy is also capable of fighting >> against "Big daddy mainframe". "Big Daddy Mainframe" is the symbol of the >> male society, that is still dominating both the real and the virtual world. >> The "Mainframe" is also a widespread product of computertycoon IBM. >> >> The art of these cybervamps is at it’s most beautiful in their fantastic >> projects, that are based on internet- and CD-rom games like Quest and Doom. >> In 1995 they made in cooperation with the artist Leon Cmielewski an project >> named "The user unfriendly interface", where as many as possible people >> should be insulted. On these beautiful pages it was not allowed to click >> anything. When someone was naughty and clicked anyway, the computer yelled >> angry at this person and the buttons changed into insects that walked away >> from the screen. People also had to fill in their dreams and desires, so >> that the program could curse and jeer at them. This program was not meant to >> be an attack to the male society, but to the dominating commercials and the >> standard mass products, that always have to be userfriendly. >> >> The game of communication >> >> VNS Matrix is also trying to investigate in what way the game is a symbol of >> social interaction in cultural life. Is pleasure an important condition to >> experience art? Interactivity gives one the power to interfere in a work of >> art. The non feminist artist Agnes Hegedüs sees the new media as an >> interesting territorium for investigation in the field of social >> interaction. In the new media raises a new culture of games, that is both >> interactive and telematic. She thinks it is special that everyone can pick a >> different identity. The result is that communication via internet is more >> playful than in real life. The internet is a game of seduction. Not the >> seduction of being connected on a distance is addicting, but the mysterious >> rendez-vouses of people gives a sexy kick. On internet people can meet >> eachoter without being seen, they can pretend to be anyone in any way. >> >> Hegedüs’ "Televirtual Fruitmachine" from 1994 is based on this playful >> interactive aspect. De instalation is a big screen on which three puzzle >> pieces of a fruit machine are projected. In front of the screen are three >> tables with a joystick. Three different people can join into this game at >> the same time. The fruit is refering to the forbidden fruit from Paradise >> and seduction. In contrast with VNS Matrix, who wants to see the new digital >> world dominated by women, Hegedüs does not think that is necessary. When the >> man and woman identity can be swapped in the virtual space, the >> genderidentity will be less important. The idea of genderswap with the help >> of the media was allready being issued by Marcel Duchamp, who let himself >> been photographed as Rrose Selavy (Eros c’est la vie): travesty as sexual >> pleasure. >> >> Metamorphosis >> >> The body will be less relevant accoring to the Australian artist Jill Scott: >> by means of technique we will be nomads in both the body and the soul. She >> thinks technique is very fascinating and she illustrates that very >> brilliantly in her gorgeous interactive film-installation "Frontiers of >> Utopia" from 1995. The ill Zira does not live in the real world: everything >> she does is via the computer: working communicating and living, for this is >> the only way to forget that her body is soon going to die. In this >> installation the visitors can "setup a dialogue" with women who are in this >> film. These women come from different areas of the 20th century and tell >> things about their ideal society. Emma from 1900 hopes for freedom for >> public opinion, Pearl from 1930 is dreaming of equality of race, Gillian >> from 1960 thinks of technical advance in socialist society and Zira from the >> 90ties believes that the technique can solve all problems. >> >> Thanks to technique the body can be improved. This theme is very popular >> among feminist artists. Even when a woman is not ill, her body needs to be >> improved by technique. The dutch artist Inez van Lamsweerde is hackling >> artificial bodily changes from healthy females, by making beautiful >> ridiculous computerpictures on which she used photomodels and >> window-figures. The female figures on her photo’s have something unreal: in >> the series "Thank you Tighmaster" from the early nineties Van Lamsweerde >> stuck doll’s eyes on a woman’s face. She thinks too many woman cannot be >> themselves anymore, but have to look like Barbie. >> >> Bitter Herb Menu/Brutal Myths >> >> ‘The cosmedical industry is a form of keeping women surpressed" claim the >> american artists Sonya Rapoport and Marie José Sat. The reason why men >> dominate women is because they are scared of them. That is why women were >> called witch. "The firsts woman Eve was allready called bad and even the >> most evil woman that has ever lived" is one of the ancient myths that was >> going around in the middle ages according to Sat and Rapoport. They say, >> that this myth is still going on in the arabic countries and that’s why the >> women do not get any political chance over there, and that is why woman in >> some countries are being circumcised. This is a primitive form of cosmedical >> surgery. In the western world women are forced upon strict diets and >> cosmedical surgery. >> The Bitter Herb Menu is a metapher for the so called badness of women. In >> Genesis, Sat and Rapoport continue, God condemned mankind to work at the >> fields and to eat the harvest. That iss why these artists choose for the >> herbal witchcraft as a symbol for the wholesome harvest of women, because in >> early times women were seen as spiritual curers in ancient times. This has >> changed later in the middle ages, when spiritual curers were seen as >> dangerous witches. The first part of the website "Brutal Myths" describes >> which bitter herb poisons the mind of the man, so he will believe that women >> are bad. In the second part of the digital work of art is the healthy herbal >> garden with wholesome herbs. >> >> Vagina Dentata >> >> On the Bitter Herb Menu one can find the bitter herb "cleavers", which lets >> a vagina eat a penis. The principle of the Vagina Dentata, the mighty and >> male-swallowing vagina is to be found in different cultures. Because men are >> afraid of this Vagina Dentata, women are being circumcised, so that they >> cannot urinate in a normal way or enjoy sex. The liberation of women is to >> take revenge of them by castration, says the Bitter Herb website. The herb >> that is punishing men so severely is called Heartsease. The Vagina Dentata >> is a beloved subject among cyberfeminist artist, because it is the ultimate >> symbol of destroying male power. Women can be in charge then. The Bitter >> Herb menu sees the Vagina Dentata in a mystique and occult context. But VNS >> Matrix sees the vagina Dentata in a playful way as a vampire like tart, who >> is called Dentata. Dentata has to shoot men in the ‘Cybersquat’, a virtual >> game surroundings from VNS Matrix. >> >> Interactive rituals in the Bitter herb Menu, that are made by the visitors, >> contribute to the destruction of the myth of women being evil and calm the >> phobias of men. Sat and Rapoport think that in this way they are >> contributing to the development of the World Wide Web as a new artistic >> technological medium, that is free from sexual prejudices and differences, >> so that the reputation of women can be purified. >> >> Common Ground >> >> The internet is a free space and that is why women can take advantage of >> that. Sonya Rapoport sees the web as free and easy to give a presentation >> from feministic art. She hopes to reach also people who would otherwise >> never go to an exhibition.. She is striving to a kind of common ground: a >> virtual space linked to different female artists. The dutch artist Mathilde >> Mupé has allready made links on her homepage to different feminists in >> cyberspace. The german video artist Ulrike Rosenbach and the american art >> critic Lucy Lippard have allready set up feministic art institutes in the >> seventies where female artists could cooperate. >> >> Much female artists see the internet as a possibility to communicate in a >> role playing game, where people can change their gender. Some feminist >> artists want to gain power over men on the inernet. For them the game of >> sexuality is a form of power instead of romance. The sexual organ is not >> only capable of enjoying sex, but also of urinating, multiplying and >> dividing the human race into the suppressed and the dominating species. >> These feminist artists see the internet as an opportunity to be the boss on >> internet. They do not want to lose their gender, but they want to gain >> dominance over the male in their female glory. The gender identity should >> therefore be emphasized according to them. The question is whether this is >> still relevant in an age of androgyny and transsexuality, because the body >> can also be changed in today’s society. Peter, I think you are very right about this and I think that other people should know this too. That's why I am sending this to the nettime list. I wrote this article because I wanted to write something about feministic art on the internet and not because I am an feminist. Althought I think that the ideas behind the feminist arts are very interesting, I do not agree with them. I also think that men and women should be equal. I left my opinion out of the article, because I wanted to give a kind of objective prescription, maybe I should have given more of my own opinion in it. Kind regards, Anne ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Check mijn nieuwe artikel over "De Vagina is de baas op internet" http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/sigorney/vagi.htm --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@icf.de and "info nettime" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@icf.de