Let’s just state the obvious here; we’re glued to our electronic devices. Even if you consider yourself someone who is not glued to an electronic product, you probably still use one to make life a bit easier. But this article is not about how you might ignore your Grandma to check on your Instagram likes, this article is about a new movement in the art world called #Cam4Art!
#Cam4Art is a product of our time, an event responding to digital intimacy and our intense internet culture.
#Cam4Art is a live-streaming performance art event created by my home-dawg Kia Nicole Noakes and Nicholas Tee. #Cam4Art will be taking place between the 25th-30th of November 2016 and is possibly the most accessible piece of performance art you could ask for, and you should not miss out on this opportunity! Here are just a few of its benefits:
- #Cam4Art is completely free!
- Even if art is unlikely to gain a double tap from you, #Cam4Art includes over 30 artists from across the globe who produce different forms of performance art. So there’s a chance you’ll find someone you will enjoy!
- #Cam4Art is online! No matter where you are or what device you are using; you can watch and enjoy performance art without the hassle of leaving your house!
- If you miss the #Cam4Art event, it’s not a problem! The performances will be recorded for you to look back on!
Before you grab your diary and save the date, I’ve selected four female artists who I’ve taken an interest in and who will hopefully interest you also, and may even feed your feminist appetite!
Emily Roderick
“Microscope Performance II”
Friday, 25th Nov. 21:00 (GMT)
Emily Roderick uses technology such as digital microscopes and screens to explore her body and surroundings during a live art performance, and you can see more of her work here: http://cargocollective.com/emilyroderick
Why did you choose performance art to express your work?
I find performance art one of the most interesting art forms for both the artist and the audience. With quite a strong interest in the senses, the body, and digital identity, performing my ideas felt like the most suited form. I am relatively new to performance but it already feels like a very valuable decision that I have made within my work.
What responses do you get from the feminist community?
The feminist community have been very supportive of the work that I make. I think what has been most intriguing is the interest and support of the technology that I am integrating into my performances and videos. It is great as a woman to be working with code and physical computing. Embracing a male-strong industry within my practice has brought me nothing but respect as an artist. Due to only recently getting my face into the art world, most of the support resonates on social media, which is great when I am referencing cyberfeminism and networked feminism. I hope that this support continues to build within the artists community.
Do you ever get any negative responses from people who claim to be feminists? If so, how do you respond?
I personally haven’t received any negative responses about my work or ideas. I’d like to think that people approve of my ideas and like to promote feminism, more recently cyberfeminism. If I were to receive anything negative, I would be interested in hearing their view and why they feel that way. I am not here to preach but would express the ideas of equality, and that art is a great platform to express these views to a wider audience.
Why have you chosen to participate to #Cam4Art?
I first saw mention of #Cam4Art through my university. I was attracted to the fact that the organisers were pitching their ideas to a wide range of artists and were keen to get students involved. The ideas seemed fresh, and looked to celebrate the online platforms that we have access to today, as well as suggesting new platforms for exhibiting work. Despite having a digital aspect to my work, I was yet to experiment with the online world to display my live performances. #Cam4Art seemed like the perfect way to explore the online community and give an alternative output of my current work.
Lindsay Dye
“Variety Show”
Friday, 25th Nov. 22:00 (GMT)
Get ready for Lindsay Dye’s “Variety show”, where the clue’s in the name: webcam mutations, readings, and visuals. See more at: http://www.lindsaydye.com
Why did you decide to use your job as a Cam Girl in your art?
I was making art about internet relationships and Miami strip club culture while I was in graduate school in NYC. My research about sex work brought me to cam culture. I became a camgirl to analyze the community and to understand conceptual projects like the Camgirls Copyright Infringement Dress that cannot be worn in public, and the Buy Me Offline Shop, an e-store where you can purchase physical screenshot prints, originally used as blackmail from my chatroom clientele. Three years later, it’s my full-time job and continues to be a source of artistic fodder.
Do you ever get any negative responses from people who claim to be feminists? If so, how do you respond?
Disengagement is the most harmful response I receive from anyone. It’s painful when another human disregards your intellect because of your occupation. My long-term response has been the integration of my two jobs: camgirl and artist. This has made a smoother entrance to talk about sex work and feminism to both men and women through the art I make, and the chatrooms I inhabit. The response is that women and feminists are more than this one thing that supposedly defines us; we are complex and attach ourselves to many identifiers, by choice and by experience.
Why have you chosen to participate in #Cam4Art?
This show represents the exact space in which I’ve been working for the past few years, an autonomous one. Autonomy is the silver lining to camming and #Cam4Art’s fundamental concept, that is to exhibit work on the artist’s terms. The juiciest part is that performative work online becomes mutated immediately just by using the medium of the internet. The layering of audiences on multiple platforms becomes innumerable and lost. There’s a level to live-streaming that can’t be perceived.
Kate Durbin
“The Supreme Gentleman”
Saturday, 26th Nov. 20:00 (GMT)
Kate Durbin will be streaming her pre-recorded work “The Supreme Gentleman”, which was created in response to the tragedy of the Isla Vista shooter, Elliot Roger. See more here: http://www.katedurbin.la
Why did you choose performance art to express your work?
The Supreme Gentleman was initially commissioned for Yes All Women, an art benefit in Los Angeles created by Jessie Askinazi and emceed by Rose McGowan, with the proceeds going to the East Los Angeles Women’s Center. The Yes All Women benefit was inspired by the hashtag #YesAllWomen, which was created in response to Isla Vista shooter Elliot Rodger’s 2014 killing spree. Rodger espoused misogynist and racist beliefs on YouTube and gamer websites prior to his shooting rampage in my home state of California, and no-one did anything about it.
The Supreme Gentleman is a re-enactment of Rodger’s final YouTube address. It was important for me to physically embody Rodger’s words as the type of body he felt so entitled to: a white woman. I wore a long Lady Godiva wig and BMW panties because he objectified blonde women and cars (BMWs were his favourite). I spoke his horrible words out of my own mouth in order to diffuse their power; the change in tone of the voice reflects that these are not even Rodger’s words, but the words of a white supremacist patriarchy, a collective belief system larger than individuals.
What responses do you get from the feminist community?
A lot of people who consider themselves feminist like my work. The Supreme Gentleman was commissioned for a feminist project, the Yes All Women art auction benefiting the East Los Angeles Women’s Center.
Do you ever get any negative responses from people who claim to be feminists? If so, how do you respond?
I do, at times. I listen to critique but when it mischaracterizes my work or becomes hateful, I tune out. I don’t feel obligated to personally respond.
Why have you chosen to participate to #Cam4Art?
I want the work to continue to have an online viewership, especially now with a Trump presidency looming in my country. One of the things I was thinking about when I put the work back on YouTube, along with the addition of the karaoke sing-a-long text, is how we turn mass shooters into gods through the media. I was thinking of how we help that process along through clickbait. I am thinking about how we have done something similar with our current presidential election. As artists we can draw attention to this process, can try and interrupt it.
Seren Metcalfe
“Laying Within a Bed of Spring Greens”
Monday, 28th Nov. 22:00 (GMT)
Seren Metcalfe’s performance focuses on the relationship between a person expressing emotion onto an inanimate item. Find out more here: http://www.serenmetcalfe.co.uk
Why did you choose performance art to express your work?
I wanted to convey a sense of intimacy and discomfort within my work as this just wasn’t being conveyed through the videos and photographs I was creating. I am a performer because I realised the only way for me to truly be intimate with the viewer is to be present. There is something amazing about a viewer being able to watch my body move, hear the sound of my breath, and watch the emotions on my face in real time!
What responses do you get from the feminist community? Could you give an example?
I’m not sure about using the term ‘feminist community’ so exclusively but I guess my work is very self-empowering, and when I perform I put myself in a very vulnerable position. It’s strange when I get comments saying “you’re so brave for being able to do that”. I wonder if I would get the same reaction if I was a man performing? But then to flip that around, I think maybe the performance would be a greater success if I was a man portraying myself as vulnerable.
Do you ever get any negative responses from people who claim to be Feminist? If so, how do you respond?
I mean, I don’t think you have to be a feminist to understand my artwork. My artwork isn’t exclusively for a feminist audience, it’s for anyone.
Why have you chosen to participate to #Cam4Art?
I’ve done performances through webcam previously and they’ve been less successful so I’m really excited to develop something better than I have done previously. Its really great to be part of a network of so many unique performers. There’s a real sense of togetherness about it.
If you are an artsy-fartsy individual like myself, it’s now time to consider: “Is live streaming the future for performance art?” (Huck Magazine). I believe that the #Cam4Art event will most definitely answer this question, so make sure to tune in between the 25th– 30th of November 2016 here: http://www.cam4art.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cam4art/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cam4art.cam4art/?fref=ts
Images courtesy of #Cam4Art, Emily Roderick, Lindsay Dye, Kate Durbin and Seren Metcalfe.
Words by Courtney McMahon and external opinions from Emily Roderick, Lindsay Dye, Kate Durbin, and Seren Metcalfe.
ANTHEM 