Arvida Bystrom Lecture
artist/model/photographer that works with feminism and sexuality (but she doesnt think that that she works with that as her main focus)
Working with feminity that is not tied to binaries
The colour pink and pastels — off and on is more or less political in her work
Her parents werent creative and encouraged her to do maths and stuff
Her dad is really into technology, shooting from young age
The way she talks is cute. Quite naive, conversational, superficial, easy to hear,
“good photos of themselves”
swedish social platforms
16 blogging : tavi gevinson —— “she used to link me to posts”.
eating disorders
At 18 a friend introduced her to feminism, and got out of the eating disorders, taking loads of photos of her self why I felt ugly
Realising that people that dont think about food all the time have loads of time to do other stuff
TUMBLR
“how to hit on a girl on tumblr” a list
Fashion represented everything she hasnt eating disorders etc etc
Portraits for tavi, some fashion brand picked her up, everything she tried to push away, as torn about it, they s till wanted to put me in that box
Model job that helped her support herself for a whole year made it easier for her to focus on her work
Hairy legs photos: body hair
People see that she doesnt shave her armpits and they still pick on her for it
She tries t work with things that doesnt completely hate on the norm, but can this be part of something that is okay?
Thought everything she did was wrong… not like it was trying to solve anything, just carrying the anxiety. (whore image)
LOVE the mustach bubble gum photos “i thought girls were really cute in beards”
Guys in feminine poses, less aware of their bodies, not used to. Prefers to shoot with women
There will be blood. People who got tgheir periods but dont know if they know it? They’re reactions to it tells us more about the then their photos
her work has depth but she doesnt really talk about it, she gives us quite a surface look
Acne : “i like pink, why cant I like pimples?”
Girl Gaze : Loads of girls that usually are into guys, but portraying straight guys from a more sensitive way…. from a female gaze…. not gay but playing with gender
Series where girls seem strong, something about society today everyone should be more male work more be more focussed on heir careers, but maybe it should be the othe rway round everyone should be more sensitive but as a weakness… its not a bad thing…maybe not making money
Balooon boobs : changing the body, in other ways than plastic surgery or the usual makeup
Charlotte Collin ***
Girls could submit their underwear and do some artwork around it.
“A pair of used panties in need of a wash is in material sense useuless. You could argue that it is no longer useable and loses its purchase value. Although in the right platform used panties rise with value and the persons willingness to fetishize them. What captialism is about.” ****** LISTEN TO FULL BIT (13 mins 16 secs)
How can we reclaim the ownership of our own objects?
Cowgirl projects vanessa moreji —— CAM GIRL project ********
Screen shot or appropriate sme girls image make them pose like paintings…. these are by the girls, pained over these paitnigs painted by a man
Patricia Alvarado***
“I think its really cute”
Warren cook I wish you were a slut and more outgoing
Like you know. the word like is seen as redundant. The colour pink or you wearing lipstcick is seen as unneccessary. When you get that like you know what your social value is. Its based on something positive… Liking someone’s selfies…. Its pretty mean to hate on selfies but like yeah…” (18.07)
LIKE LIKE LIKE… seen as bad and unneccessary when you do it on too often, seen as feminist, also liking something on facebook
Loads of corporations using that we wanna like /show appreciate for stuff. But is that so bad to show appreciate for things?
She is not very good at communicating about her work
Selfie stick aerobics class. “I love selfie sticks’ ***** GET VIDEO!!! It really plays with whats wrong with it, with its own narcissim and superficiality… “also known as the belfie, all lumps are beautiful, click click click click”
The use of the selfie stick : my perception is that is its about tool for indulging narcissim… yeah maybe but i think everyones narcissitic everyones so freaking out about it in society, technology makes it easier, the world is built for our narcissim but the world looks donw on anything feminine, or altering your look, make people buy unnecessary shit. The typical man buys loads of tehcnology could hat eon that too. I dont see the seflie as a problem but the norm of beauty, and that people want to buy loads of shit.
Reproducing ones image of themselves.
I was wondering if the word narcissim in the context it is kind of redundant now. Maybe its not equipped to dealw ith the situation were in now, maybe you have to find a more approrpriate language for this.
BODY ANXIETY EXHIBITION ON LINE BE LEE NAKERS ******the problem with bodies, that when a female is photographed she is seen as better and more interesting than f she is the photographer herself. Maybe thats why i get more attention, and im a model. Is it meto blame that I get that attention, this world makes us want to do that.
The selfie stick and reclaim the gaze. Men used to take upskirts The women in your upskirt pictures are taking their image and contrlling it.
You can never really completely remove the male gaze, even if you try to be as far away fro m that too your stil working around that.
Everyone in her work seems to be beautiful, who she shoots are all varied but she shoots them in way that makes them see beautiful.
I wanna shoot guys cute and weak and in pastels because thats what I love. not this is a freak but this person is equally beautiful as everyone else.
the selfie stick is the extension for our ego. Help us to create another person that isnt us.
People keep wanting to know what is the point, what is the message, more than beauty. How we represent ourself through media. Whether we should be aware of themselves, it could be positive, there are bad sides. But that goes with everything, and people who get face in art.
She makes money from commercial work.
Artists that make it have rich parents.
Should we try to see some good sides in the things that are reviled?
Here the art world is snooty.
The buying shit, thats problematic that we feel we need to buy certain things to look a certain way AHHHH.
We create a situation, something which looks like an idyllic society, sometimes we end up as an image. That goes for books and history and anything we create.
Im not trying to show the world through my photos. I get sad when i have young girls follow me on instagram and say i wanna be you, the way we can deal with that and talk about it more things arent like in the movies or books or internet or history books. It needs to be talked about more.
The position we as women are in, and in relation to femininity, when you politicize it, its alot deeper the sexualisation of young women, the kind of thwarting that prevents you discovering your very core that distracts you, its a very young persons world. What would I show my young niece, some things I’d like to show.
Why are you doing this, you have to make people look a certain way.
I dont surround myself with many, Im mainly see girls when Im dating, Men that fail to see women as human beings.
I grew up loving pink and feminine and LOVEd being a girl, before being feminists when i felt i could just play the role of a pretty girl but looked down on self for that, im sexualisng myself, but then i felt extremely stupid, but now I love it and i play with it and thats what makes me feel beautiful. Poeple feel they dont have to be that girl.
How do we find a space in that? an awareness this is me, completely not me, a person reading thinking making (chritsine) oooh ill put some lipstick… I have affection for it and cynism for it.
I find femininit intersting in how can we value it more, its looked down on, its stupid, theres always an extreme danger on the streets at night, especially transexuals and gay people are in danger (theres a street I can walk on but he cant cos he gets harassed) why do we look down on femininity its absurd.
Feminism has changed the past few years, since beyonce are telling the world that their feminist.Now a feminist wouldnt be a girly girl on tumblr with arm pit hair.
We grew up as an online gang of people that interact together, we get picked up and can make money for it, I want to be able to live in a comfortable way, that whole group makes important art, but because they dont look like i do they cant suport themselves like i do and thats troubling in this world u have to be a certain person or look a certian way
Some people think armpit hair is crazy, others think its an old stereotype
Trans women are getting more space in the public discourse.
In sweden the discussion for progressive.
problematic with internet, they wanna sell the right things to you so they alter your feeds, corporations giving you the internet that they think you want : targeted advertising.
Been working with music lately….. exhibitions are fun.
SHES REALLY ENJOYING BEING AN ARTIST
“ i dont feel like im academic enough” she loves writing for the exhibition, I get scared why am i doing this…
More commercial looking, i love things that have ‘queer aesthetics’ crossing this barrier of i can make something ugly because i have thoughts that look like this.
Being picked up on the subjects you were dealing with rather than what you are expressing in your work. The context of the website and the atmosphere is part of your work.
Your work is more interested about being fluid, then fixed with identity. The work with yourself there is more uncertainty and conflict your not dealing with tsubject matter but the relationship with yourself and working through that.
Conflicted about using yourself since a model, since 12, didnt dare to shoot others, i have a hard time claiming im good at something, I do makemoney from my photography but not enough to pay models, use myself.
Control of the image
Not just about photorgaphy or being a photographer to reacreate yourself or work with that
Not trying to find myself, its me. Against the idea that has to show herself through the phtoos, having a cute instagram feed, really fun to take photos and make it look cute. But you cant possibly see me through this this is just a little part of me.
What I find complicated with shooting myself< i try to have control over my own picture but I also try to work away from that. But I hate how people enforce something on me because they see my photos and they think they know something of me, but i am also lawed and i love being flawed and i think its beautiful.
Does it exist any more in that sense,w e are constantly changing ourselves depending on who theyr with.
Anti capitalist, an image of a feminist to sell things is no good
If you try to google periods its really had fine.
The girl who got banned from insagram because she she had a period stain.
9gag, sexist men stufff on their. Free bleeding, they dont wanna ruin theur cothes either, it can happen, most people care if they get blood everywhere, anti feminist people put this on twitter, Free bleeding go go.
Process: what do i wnat this to feel like, theres no photos online of people who get their periods, ist not periods are good or bad, theyr just periods.
Keep shooting, even when you dont have ideas, not overthinking then you can in a loop in your head and you dont do anything. A mix of really planning yourself and doing something between.
Projects not to make money. this is something i do because i think its amazing. But does something else to supoort self.
In fahsion where am i using feminist selling ymyself in a disgusting way,
Im not used to the art school langauge ME NEEITHER
I got into queer feminist language, theory about sex and the body, reading about things like that sexually educate yourself, bisexual, now pan sexual, stumbled on some queer feminist blogs….
(66.17) listen
A world with loads of girls, women identified people. Suddenly im dating a guy, more conscious…. I dont think i can completely reject the fact that people like me like this but this is something i find problematic, but im with a girl thats less femmy they appreciate me for being this way, but girls around me realise i have flaws. A conflict, i know people like me like this, i like me like this, but this is not all the time just a small part of me, i know you d somethings to please other people, but how bad is that?
Femininity is a conscious choice, and its a choice, and its awarness and what you choose. Like choosing buying something at primark knowing someone has slaved away for it for 10p. It is a construct. Dealing with it in a more open way, lets get it out there and say I like that, where do we go from here, its exploratory.
Having fun with dressing up how they liook caring about even with guys they have to pretend they dont care
This is how you look natural and spend an hour on it - this is so absurd….
Femininity thats not lying about that you put things on and that you care and you want to be liked for other people, and sometimes for yourself but always in relatisonhip for society and what they think is beautiful.
