For my work, I drew inspiration from Jan Yung Hero’s 2005 video piece This is We (from The Experience of Art) and the posters by the artist collective Guerilla Girls (from Always a Little Further), particularly the poster The Birth of Feminism.
In Jan Yung’s work, national flags were erased from various real-life footage where those symbols had played a significant role in the event, such as during Olympic parades or other processions. The videos questioned the importance of nationalism. I adopted this visual language into my own work.
What struck me about the Guerilla Girls’ work was the theme. The slogan on the poster — “They made women’s rights look good. Really good.” — raised the issue of performative feminism, which remains highly relevant today. Although this phenomenon can be associated with individuals, in this case, it specifically highlights the kind of performativity used by companies and brands for profit. For example, when a movie is entirely gender-swapped in the hope of appealing to viewers’ feminist sentiments, or when an advertisement touts how strong women are in order to sell a product. Here, the ideological content is just window dressing, like background music in a store designed to create a pleasant atmosphere that encourages more consumption. Feminism becomes a tool for profit-making.
In 2014, during Paris Fashion Week, Chanel’s show centered on the 1970s. After all the pieces in the collection had been showcased, the models, along with the designer Karl Lagerfeld, paraded together, imitating women’s rights marches from the 1970s. Holding signs and megaphones, they chanted for equality as they made their final walk down the runway. The feminist slogans became mere props in their hands, emphasized by the carefully selected colors of the signs. I wanted to depict this ideological emptiness in my work.
