Art channel
InterviewsWetMeWild – an Avatar of a Slav Nymph
With the help of a webcam I am able to see places that are far from my usual surroundings. With the help of social media I can get a grasp of other people’s lives, even though they are complete strangers to me. I expand my circle. With the help of a smartphone I record voices of others and replay them. To see, to touch, to hear: these phrases show just how corporeal social interactions are.
How does the virtual body compare to the physical one?
The virtual body can’t be referred to as artificial or put in opposition to the real one; it is just as real. They are both dimensions of the same reality. Still, when experiencing the digital environment through its immersive properties, I sometimes forget about the physical body. The body controls the interfaces and appoints representations, thereby extending them. The internet can be a domain of hyper-presence in which you can voluntarily perform yourself in an online show. The online equivalent of a biological body can be a simulation1 of the real one, but it doesn’t have to. The technological incarnation allows the creation of a new corporeality, where the distinction between physical and digital body ceases to matter. Going a step further, online entities that are deprived of their physicality in the offline world can be set up, such as the instagrammer limiquela2.The development of the Internet and digital technologies has caused the forgotten nymphs to return. They are newly referred to as nicknames or profile pictures3. Here again, I, WetMeWild, the avatar of the Slavic nymph, could appear. You can experience my digital physicality on an Instagram profile, where I readily explore the ideas of selfie-feminism4, consciously creating my presence, exposing myself to the eyes of others and provoking interaction. The sexcam world is also an extremely important space of my presence. On these platforms, the nymph transforms into a camgirl5. I broadcast my nymphy performances live from a webcam.
1 Creating new digital bodies has been popular since the beginning of the internet. It is seen as a field of artistic activity. Examples include: Life Sharing, Scandalishious or American Idol Training Blog, projects archived on: https:/anthology.rhizome.org/.
2 https://www.instagram.com/lilmiquela/
3 The creators of the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, one of the most played games in the world in recent years, introduced the fashion for Slavic bestiary. The authors of the game, studio CD Projekt Red, received the Polityka’s Passport award in the “Culture Creator” category in 2015.
4 Some feminists see selfies as a subversive form of self-expression which creates a new narrative that escapes the male gaze.
5 Because sexcam models operate from their homes, they can freely choose the broadcast sexual content. While most of them show nudity and direct sexual behaviour, some prefer to remain mostly dressed and chat, still seeking payment in the form of tokens.
