Marisa Müsing
“𝒮𝓉𝓊𝒸𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝒷𝑜𝒶𝓇𝒹” (2024)
The work is part of my current research questioning historical interpretations and current paradigms of the male gaze on ancient and virtual sites to propose novel queer cyberfeminist spaces that can develop inclusive and accessible digital futures. The work reflects on the translated narrative of a figure from the frescoes of Pompeii, the Kneeling Woman; their revised story describes a queer cyborg stuck in the womb of a computer. They review their life and share stories of their existence as a soft digital body in a fractal cyberspace. Using tools of AI, I was able to converse with the Kneeling Woman to gather their translated story and design their external world through physical artefacts. The marble tablet and fleshy keyboard are tools they use to connect between worlds.
The tablet reads, "I'm bored of wall reading... To anyone who can read this, I am trapped inside of a computer. I am a human being." In different iterations of the Kneeling Woman's existence, they seem to grapple with feeling stuck in the voids of their internet-fueled existence and accepting the strange but beautiful embodiments of self they are able to explore in the computer egg. Surrounded by screens and seductive imagery, the Kneeling Woman builds a dome of endless possibilities for their existence in various settings, emotions and worlds.