[Nettime-nl] barbie, lara en lolita in foto instituut

[Josephine Bosma <jesis@xs4all.nl>]

Het volgende bericht komt van uit het Australische zine Geekgirl
(http://www.geekgirl.com.au/). Als je op de website van het NFI kijkt
vind je er daar niks over. Toch irritant dat op heel veel sites
informatie over dingen die in de nabije toekomst gebeuren zo goed als
onvindbaar zijn. Ook op de axis site is er niets over te vinden. Toch
leuk om tegen te komen en zo nog es op die sites (axis bijvoorbeeld)
terecht te komen! Updaten die boel!   J

Lookalike. Barbie � Lolita � Lara Croft
September 7 � November 3
NFI (www.nfi.nl)

Barbie, Lolita and Lara Croft are three female icons that recur in all
sorts of ways in our contemporary society. They inspire countless
photographers and artists, but also advertising and film directors.
These three 'women' - one a doll, one a character from a novel, and one
a 'game girl' - are at the heart of the exhibition Lookalike at the
Nederlands Foto Instituut from September 8 through November 3, 2002. The
exhibition examines the way in which photographers, visual artists,
advertising directors, fashion designers, video artists, game makers and
film directors have been inspired by these three fictional women.

Barbie, Lolita and Lara represent three divergent archetypical images
for women. Barbie is the young, successful woman, obsessed with her
appearance, who conjurs up for us the norms and values of a
materialistic, Americanised society. But despite the focus on her
appearance, Barbie has an asexual aura. This contrasts with Lolita, the
apparently innocent child-woman from Nabokov's novel of the same title.
In 1999 the fashion magazine Vogue introduced the Lolita girl as the
new, sensual image for women. The newest heroine has been called into
being with the aid of digital techniques: the militant,
well-proportioned Lara Croft. This tough gal has made short work of
conquering the hearts of both men and women. Nevertheless as an
ambivalent phenomenon she provokes discussion: is she a role model for
feminists or a new female cliche?

Lookalike intends to throw new light on the 'revival' of these
traditional icons in visual culture, but also gives attention to new
images for women. Artists and image makers provide a commentary -
critical, activist but alsohumorous or parodic - on these female images.
For instance, Ellen von Unwerth (USA) portrayed the model Claudia
Schiffer as a living Barbie doll for Elle (August, 1994), while the
significantly titled project 'Life/Size38' by Hester Oerlemans (Ned)
appears to be a provocation against this ideal image. Bodyshop is still
more explicit in its protest: a buxom Barbie played the main role in her
'Ruby' campaign from 1999. Artists like Justine Kurland (USA), L.A.
Raeven (Ned), Liza May Post (Ned) and Mouchette appear to accentuate the
innocence of the Lolita girls in their work, but at the same time with
their photographs, videos and web projects evoke a surrealistic
estrangement with regard to this phenomenon. That even with the arrival
of digital visual culture there can still be stereotypes is clear from
the work of artists like Anne-Marie Schleiner. She has developed various
alternative computer games in which Lara receives competition from comic
super-heroines.

The exhibit is curated by Flos Wildschut of the NFI and Deanna Herst of
Axis, foundation for Art and Gender (Amsterdam; www.axisvm.nl)

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