I carry all the names I'm given

01. I carry all the names I’m given

MIXED-MEDIA VIDEO-INSTALLATION
2023

Graduation Project 2023
St. Joost School of Art & Design

I used to think I wanted to be a boy growing up. I chose male avatars when playing videogames and wore my hair short. Now I don’t know what I am or want to be anymore. Though the societal debate around gender inclusivity has started opening up, I still feel pressured to pick a descriptive label. Not knowing what I am feels like a burden, though it shouldn’t. Instead of picking pronouns to identify with I choose to look for my reflection elsewhere. The internet is one of such places, its fluid and hybrid digital environment full of unknown possibilities lurking invisibly in the background, waiting to be discovered.

The online sphere plays an increasingly important role in shaping our (gender) identities. We are often exposed to digital culture at a young age, and much of our adolescent life also partially plays out on the internet. Growing up with a medium like the internet within arm’s reach gives me a unique understanding of this platform. The language spoken on the internet is like a second mother tongue for me and my generation, making the internet much like a digital extension of our reality. The online spaces embedded within the internet’s network are flexible and allow for uncertainty and unrecognizability. They are spaces for the the non-defined or unidentifiable that don’t seem to belong anywhere else. It’s spaces like these that I’m attracted to, with a massive stream of image production and consumption and endless tools for diverse representation. This digital sphere provides a safe space for those who might not know what they are yet.

My fascination for the materiality of the digital network and the underlying relationship between people and images form the conceptual basis of this three-part mixed-media video-installation. By combining elements of sculpture, video and animation, I investigate the role of contemporary digital image culture and the virtual space in our exploration and understanding of gender identity.

Installation shots at the NowShow 2023
Graduation Show St. Joost Breda
29.06.23-02.07.23

Alongside the work a foldable flyer was distributed, containing contextual information about the totality of the work as well as its separate parts (mentioned above). To download a PDF copy of the flyer press here.

The artistic research that is the central nerve system of this work will be designed and bundled as a thesis publication, designed by studio Figure10, consisting of Annegien Schilling and Joanne van der Wal. This publication will be published in the fall of 2023.