Representations of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Digital Media

This free seminar continues our exploration of bodies online as we examine representations of race, gender, and sexuality in digital culture. The discussion places particular emphasis on the selfie and the social network as both tools and contexts for cultural inquiry and political activism.

Investigations into the asymmetrical progress championed by white selfie feminist artists and the experiences of black bodies online are also of particular focus this week. Questions we ask include - What do we expect of the selfie? And how do we evaluate the political and social efficacy of digital self-portraiture?

This conversation ties together many of the threads that have run through Discrit’s events thus far - visions of feminist emancipation, contestations of technological power, and post-body subjectivities. This conversation is co- moderated and produced by special featured guest, curator Anna Akpele.

Syllabus:

Looking:

• Amalia Ullman - ‘Excellences and Perfections’ (2014)
• Signe Pierce - ‘American Reflexxx’ (2015)
• Alexandra Bell - ‘Counternarratives’ (2017)
• Shawné Michaelain Holloway - ‘a:active, a:hover { or position: unavoidable;’ (2017)
• Shawné Michaelain Holloway - ‘self.submit : portraits’

Reading:

• Aria Dean - ‘Closing the Loop’ + ‘New Black Portraiture’
• Taylor Renee Aldridge - ‘Black Bodies, White Cubes: The Problem with Contemporary Art’s Appropriation of Race’
• (Bonus) Lisa Nakamura - ‘I WILL DO EVERYthing That Am Asked’: Scambaiting, Digital Show-space, and the Racial Violence of Social Media’
• (Bonus) Aria Dean - ‘Poor Meme, Rich Meme’