Fluidity as a concept acts as a main river, leading through my works. Playing with the questions it opens up, flowing into the larger stream of discourse. Fluidity bridges the gap between binary structures, melting them and taking them away on its stream and down the waterfall, evaporating into dust. Yearning for connection, delving into the digital realm, guiding us to one another, merging our bodies and consciousness.
Fluid Bonds and Shared Consciousness
Imagine: the ethereal feeling of liquid flowing over, through, and out of you, ultimately merging back into the great waters.
This metaphor not only embodies the physical experience but also symbolizes the emotional and communal connections that bind us together.
The concept of shared consciousness transcends individual boundaries, allowing us to form invisible bonds with the people around us. Through this fluid connection, something as intangible as community can be materialized, romantic feelings flow freely.
Emotions as a digital waterfall, always flowing, neverending, refreshing perpetually
Transcending the Flesh
And what role can technology play in this?
The boundaries between the organic and the technological have blurred. The notion of wetware, wherein the organic matter of the body transmits information akin to hardware, unveils the convergence of biological mass and technological processes. Computers and devices, despite their computational capabilities, remain hydrophobic, unlike the human body, which is innately connected through water. This contrast yet closeness shines light on the operating system of the body – a wetware that processes emotions as information. This relationship between the body and technology is also highlighted in one of my all time favorite works of Cecile B Evans, “what the heart wants” (2016) where emotions are understood as a form of data.
Technology hereby serves as a materialized metaphor, physically present in our devices, the digital river, everflowing, eternally connecting us. As we venture into interconnectedness, wetware systems become our medium of connection.
Interconnected Bodies
I'm Reaching out for your hand
when the liquid is flowing over me, through me, out of me,
merging back into the great waters
cycling through us, connecting us with everything around us
connecting us to the people around us, forming invisible bonds, overflowing the barriers, merging our bodies, transcending the flesh
yearning, longing for connection and community
something very distant can be connected
decentralized liquid internet
the emotional weight
riding over us like a wave
bridging the loneliness
Dripping, leaking, oozing, and slurping – these visceral images not only reflect the physical but also symbolize the hidden channels through which information flows. The body acts as a filter, processing this influx of information and shaping our understanding of the world.
Thinking about things....
Cyber-feminists have theorized on the impact and utopian potential of the Internet since the 90s. A Space for community, where feminist ideals can arise from the source and envision an updated future. As we navigate this landscape, the significance of closeness and vulnerability emerges, at the core of future community – embracing virtual freedoms and indulging in intimate exchanges that satisfy our yearnings.
𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔶 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪𝔰
Yearning, Longing, Disintegrating
The Internet hereby serves as a playground of exploration of the self, liberated from oppressive structures often faced in physical reality. In this exploration of fluidity, identity, gender and sexuality are opening up and at our hands to be explored. This process not only exposes vulnerabilities but also seeks to devise a novel language for identification, moving beyond heteronormative paradigms and aesthetics. For queer people, this fluidity extends to a profound yearning for connection within the community, where shared experiences and emotions converge to create a unique sense of belonging.
Relationality is crucial as individuals find their place amid others, forming a whole, transcending individuality with a delicate vulnerability.
everytime my skin touches the surface, breaking through the tension
I get closer
ruminating and releasing.....
lovepilled fr
As any form of communication in a community will evolve, it develops its own unique language. Online, memes have emerged to fulfill this purpose. As hyper-niche precise and droplets they fill up our spaces, creating a pond of content, illuminating the prevailing sentiments and subjects of our communities. Through this distinctive visual and colloquial language, they are inherently inclusive and exclusive at the same time. The rapid cycling of images, reposting them, writing over them, frying them, making aesthetic edits and pairing them with songs that intensify their message, they serve as narrative creators.
Sprouting from every community, they perpetuate images, appropriate content, and meld subcultures with popculture, the lore is evergrowing. Often, memes will be posted on accounts that are not necessarily linked to an individual or personality. Meme Admins can find comfort in this anonymity, no need for a face reveal. Users relate only through the vibes, the shared emotions, and their projections onto them.
Feelings, desires can be expressed in a safeguard, the grotto behind the waterfall is guarding them, they flow freely.
This connection through a shared narrative, without the need for the individual, is opening up the portals to digital utopia (?) hyper connected, interlinked a thousand times, reposted, screeshotted, appropriated, overused, niche and megaviral.
releasing my emotions online, they flow away from me
to you
my love for you is going viral
flowing on the river of eternity
forever fluid fantasy
(cyberangel)
who am I to dream for you?
i am fading away
drifting through the torrents
true form reveal
this is not a dream,
this is just a substitute for reality
then where are my dreams?
beyond where reality lies
traversing time and space
buoying our earthly world
untether me from reality
~untethered but always connected~
above my head, beyond the realm
floating away in my dreams
a petal on the stream
water entangling our bodies
filling up the space between us
leaking oozing, overflowing
keep going, eternity is right in front of you <3
my vision is clear
i guess i could ask
but i dont know if i want to know
reality - its yours
its in your hands, it always was
we're entwined and connected,
like oceanic currents, intermingled, affected,
the boundaries between us begin to erode,
water, the essence that our bodies encode.
the video is f
l
o
w
i
n
g
through me
melting my body, merging it with yours
come closer
questioning the utopian potential that the internet promises us and the connections we make online
can this really happen
romantic, emotional approach - the poem is guiding the users through the narrative
longing for connection
the character is drowning in their feelings as they ruminate
going with the flow is not easy
you need to let yourself be taken by the stream
it will guide you there
reaching out to for your hand through the screen
can we touch?
can we break through the (surface) tension
encountering the 3d character
floating on the water, drifting away, reaching out for your hand, your gaze
releasing
Sources and further reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDe_W11KY4c (Cecile B. Evans Interview)
“Producing Futures - A Book on post-cyber-feminism” Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst 2019
"Mass Effect - Art and the Internet in the twenty-first century" Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015
"zeros and ones : digital women and the new technoculture" Sadie Plant 1997
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17YJyEqODv6pMKD3yJGYzFfwzQrBclZUWGBAHkI6zzL4/edit?usp=sharing (forever notes)
special thanks to Josepha Edbauer for her invaluable knowledge <3