The time to think and reflect has been really valuable. It wasn’t voluntary but things beyond my control intervened and I haven’t had the time to make as much physical (so to speak) progress as I would like to have achieved yet this unit. That being said I have had time to prepare for the art making as well as finish up on some valuable reading and research and start others. Decisions I was steaming ahead with before have had time to percolate and evolved in to new intentions also.
In the last post I set out a framework for how I was intending to format the public facing identity (for want of a better description) of the project. A challenge I have faced is the creation of an almost “branded” succinct way of talking about what I am doing. I’ve had to think long and hard about this as speaking about subjects such as porn, sex ed, sexual violence, misogyny and almost anything that comes under the umbrella of Feminism is actually quite difficult to do on social media. Censorship and shadow banning mean there are lots difficult and therefore coded ways to have these conversations online and a short hand social media language has been created around this problem in order to always try and be ahead of the all powerful algorithm. But bigger concerns are things like the torrent of abuse that women having these conversations, online or in social media spaces, then receive which is not something I am sure I want to open myself up too much. I want to make sure that I am putting my energy into something that won’t eventually become a negative mentally but also physically in terms of the sheer volume of work that is creating online content too.
I am also aware that I have a tendency to fall into a pattern of trying to be all things to all people so to speak, trying to cover too many interesting elements at once. Really narrowing the lens of what I am trying to do, where my passion lies (art and art as facilitation as well as feminist discourse) and what I am trying to achieve realistically have helped me evolve the ideas and direction the projects’ online/public presence will ultimately take on. I do not want to posit myself in a position where I am perceived as telling people what to think or do but more as part of the facilitation of asking questions in the same way the Art can too.
Language is quite key here. From changing the name of a previous insta account to a potential name for the project that includes the word “feminism” I was instantly spammed with random misogynistic messages and explicit porn imagery as well as the fact that my junk email folder is also now full of explicit spam and so far I have been very careful with my digital footprint. This is a stark reminder of how language is powerful in both the traditional arena of fair debate and discourse but also in our everyday vernacular. Whilst I am very comfortable with a lot of language around feminism and sex many aren’t and the effects of language chosen can have both positive and detrimental effects.