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Dawn Woolley
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Delighted to have work in this brilliant new book by Dr Micheal Petry.
From the art of Cindy Sherman to Anish Kapoor, from Yayo Kusama to Tracey Emin, MirrorMirror presents an intriguing and gloriously illustrated global survey of ‘reflective’ work by MORE THAN 150 artists across media, nationalities, genders, and locations. The extraordinary range of works featured in MirrorMirror invite us to ponder and reflect upon the nature of reality and our place within the world.
Special consideration is given to selfies and the way in which the mobile phone now operates as a modern-day mirror to the self. In all these works, the concept of reflection, the notion of creating an alternative space or of opening up space within the frame of the viewer’s interaction with the artwork, have a root in the past.
Available to pre-order now Thames and Hudson
Group Exhibition
Forderzimmer Gallery, Berlin
Two images from The Substitute are currently in this exhibition Self-portrait with Bystander in Berlin.
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If you are in the city it is open until 22nd March.
BOOK LIST
I was delighted to be asked to compile a book recommendation list in relation to my book Consuming the Body. You can read it here:
https://shepherd.com/best-books/consumer-culture-and-tearing-it-down
NOW AVAILABLE
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/consuming-the-body-9781350225299/
Consuming the Body examines contemporary consumerism and the commodified construction of ideal gendered bodies, paying particular attention to the new forms of interaction produced by social networking sites. Describing the behaviours of an ideal neoliberal subject, Woolley identifies modes of discipline, forms of pleasure, and opportunities for subversion in an examination of how individuals are addressed and the ways in which they are expected to respond.
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A brilliant analysis of consumerism exposing how we are manipulated by capitalism seeking to turn our subjectivity into an object for corporate profit. By drilling into the shiny surface of corporate deceit Consuming the Body uncovers ways to resist the deceptions foisted on us.
Peter Kennard, Professor of Political Art, Royal College of Art, UK
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What are we to do with the idealised mirror-images that capitalism beams at us through social media, making us all fetishists and hysterics? Consuming the Body is written urgently but elegantly, finally offering ways of thinking outside this dangerous box.
Professor Naomi Segal, Honorary Fellow, Institute of Modern Languages Research, University of London, UK
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This book is a fascinating take on selfie culture and beyond, taking up classic feminist psychoanalytic discussions of the fetishistic gaze to think about the impact of social networks, cosmetic surgery, health surveillance and the 'sadistic commands' of capitalist consumer culture. Focusing on the increasingly blurred lines between neoliberal self-surveillance and neurosis, the book explores how hysteria, anorexia and bulimia share much with contemporary online imperatives around fitness, health and beauty. Offering some solace through activist work on social networks, the book proposes that selfie culture needs a new set of rules for it to become a space of empowerment and to loosen the disciplinary control that it exerts.
Catherine Grant, Senior Lecturer, Art and Visual Cultures department, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
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Selfies and social media have an image problem - in more ways than one. In this compelling book, Dawn Woolley challenges the narrow stereotypes criticising how bodies are portrayed in these digital media. She elucidates their complex meanings, practices and politics, and in doing so, recuperates their value, particularly for women with non-normative bodies.
Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Australia
Dawn Woolley offers up an exciting and eloquent exploration of the often sadistic ways that contemporary capitalism compels us to consume. Importantly Woolley gives us valuable insight into radical self-presentation approaches on social media that glitch and refuse the 'ideal' in order to empower a body's presence.
Dr. Jacki Willson, Associate Professor in Performance and Gender, School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds, UK
PUBLISHED
'If we think of our attention as an act of care, my hope is that tech allows for increased attention to the things that matter, so long as we can stave off feelings of jadedness or burnout and remain mindful of how we consume information and connect.'
'Woolley sheds light on how social media mediates the hyper(in)visibility of marginalized bodies'.
Introduction by Maya Ellen Hertz (Editor-in-Chief) for Cursor Magazine's Special Issue Attention!
My contribution, Attention Rebels, can be read here:
https://cursormag.net/attentionrebels_05
#Rebel Selves installation is something between a stage set for an absurdist play, a camp hall of mirrors, and an exploded 3-dimensional photograph. Fabric wall-hangings, masks, costumes, and props create a performative installation space inviting visitors to play different characters and take queer selfies that rebel against gender, beauty, and other norms. Costumes and props enable visitors to determine how visible they are, either merging into the backdrops thorough camouflaging costumes or standing out with dazzling masks. Binary gender ideals are confounded by the theatre flats and furniture which present an array of poses and gestures.
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Selfies are an important form of self-expression because they enable marginalised people not represented on mainstream media to be visible, create online communities, and participate in self-esteem building interactions. However, selfies are expected to conform to binary gender and other beauty ideals. Research shows that bodies that are marginalised in terms of race, gender, sexuality, size and disability experience hostility online. This may prevent them from receiving the benefits of using social media platforms. #Rebel Selves explores creative methods that could be used when taking selfies in order to avoid some of these problems.
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