VIRTUAL WAR (on Women) is a multimedia art project that deals with misogyny and extremism in times of new technologies. In a multi-channel video installation, the project explores whether extreme misogyny is a form of terrorism.
Incels, Femoids, Pick-Up Artists, #foreveralone, Red Pill, Andrew Tate - they all come from the ‘manosphere’, an association of different, contradictory and overlapping groups of men who share a hatred of women and anti-feminism.
Web 2.0 has created a number of particularly toxic digital spaces, which can be labelled ‘toxic technocultures’. These are a loosely connected and amorphous hub for ‘men's issues’ known for their virulent anti-feminism, extreme misogyny/queerophobia and links to right-wing radicalism. The unifying ideology of the manosphere is an aversion to feminism and a pervasive sense of victimhood as (white) men.
These groups and their radical, sometimes inhumane statements are often trivialised - after all, there is a lot of talk on the internet, a lot of incitement and there is hardly any influence on ‘real life’. But often it's not just words - violence is becoming increasingly common. Series of murders and attacks by ‘lone wolves’, i.e. ‘lone men’ who take up arms and kill people indiscriminately, have long been dismissed as individual offenders with no common ideology. It is now known that they all have something in common - they have previously been perpetrators of domestic or gender-based violence, meet in ‘incel’ online forums, organise themselves there, celebrate the assassins, their ‘kill counts’ and manifestos like martyrs. The Hanau attacker also identified with the Incel culture, among others.
In this sense, they are in no way inferior to religious or racist attackers - they too are usually recruited, radicalised and instrumentalised online. Nevertheless, this violence against women* is not recognised as a form of terrorism or hate crime.
The project was awarded the 2024 Artist Fellowship of the City of Munich and as well as the 1st Prize at the IKOB Feminist Art Prize 2025 in Belgium.
This project is currently a work-in-progress.
Video Links on request.
TOXIC TECHNOCULTURE TOWER
This multi-channel video and sound installation is dedicated to the
thesis that violence against women is a form of terrorism.
Up to 12 screens of different sizes are attached to a variable metal frame to form an overwhelming, sculptural installation that is intended to evoke memories of classic news agency ‘news towers’. The screens show the results of investigative research such as chat extracts, statements and interviews, as well as images from news services, the dark web, YouTube and other sources, interwoven with the artist's own video works.
Exhibited in the dark, the tower is a light installation, sculpture and video work in one, alluding to the aesthetics of ‘Man Caves’ and ‘Gaming Dens’. Using Bluetooth mice, some of the screens can be controlled by visitors themselves, resulting in constantly changing compositions. Headphones make it possible to listen to additional audio recordings from interviews and manifestos.
The video installation is accompanied by a booklet that makes the research accessible to viewers and allows visitors to continue to engage with the topic after the exhibition.
The form of presentation is flexible and adaptable to the space.
The set-up and number of screens can vary depending on the desired focus. A wall installation is also possible.
On the following pages, 5 of the up to 12 videos are presented as examples
LONE WOLVES (2024)
8 mins, video + audio, english subtitles
In recent decades, attacks by so-called ‘lone wolves’ have become more frequent in the global West. They were labelled as ‘isolated cases’ and denied any common ideology. It is now becoming increasingly clear that these men have one thing in common: radical, sometimes right-wing hatred of women.
A particularly worrying subgroup of them are the so-called INCELs. The term ‘incel’ is made up of the words ‘involuntary’ and ‘celibate’. Those who adopt this name see themselves as socially isolated and unsuccessful when it comes to having sex and romantic relationships with the people they desire. This rise of misogynistic ideology, manifested in the manosphere and incel movement, has become ubiquitous and can be found in politics, mainstream pop culture, but also in warnings of terrorist attacks.
‘Lone Wolves (2024)’ examines these series of attacks and focuses on the perpetrators and society's reaction to them. On the one hand, the work questions why society finds it so difficult to take action against misogynistic male violence and, on the other, what consequences online radicalisation has for ‘real’ life.
PILLED (2024)
interactive offline forum, (mini) PC + Bluetooth mouse
The manosphere comprises various websites, blogs and online forums. They are all united by misogyny and the resulting desire to make disparaging remarks about women*. Supporters of the ‘men's rights movement’ often use their own jargon to protect themselves from the outside world and to identify with each other. This type of extremist behaviour is not limited to online spaces, but is exacerbated by digital technologies. ‘Pilled (2024)’ shows real, yet curated chat histories from dark web forums and takes us into the disinhibited language of perpetrators and confidants.
For the inexperienced internet user, these linguistic codes can be confusing, and for good reason: much of it is designed to keep out the uninitiated. This ‘offline forum’ is designed to minimise the conspiratorial
ish obsession of the internet with ‘pills’, educate about radicalising language and give visitors a ruthless insight into the mindset and language of the manosphere.
Presented as a controllable offline website, the forum allows visitors to interact and control: each forum thread is actively selected by the viewer, who decides for themselves how far and how deep they want to delve into the world of online radicalisation.
CHOOSE THE BEAR (2024)
2-channel, TV + smartphone, 3 min & 15min, audio, English subtitles
‘Man vs Bear’ is a viral debate on social media in which women ponder whether they would rather be alone in the woods with a strange man or a bear.
The meme comes from a TikTok video by Screenshot HQ, which was published in April 2024. In it, almost all participants opted for the bear, which triggered a heated debate about the reasons: Why do many women* feel safer with a predator than with a man they don't know? And what does this have to do with the
#metoo movement have to do with it?
‘Choose the Bear (2024)’ approaches these online phenomena from the perspective and needs of the bear and thus opens up
questions about the safety of women* in public and private spaces.
The film is accompanied by a collection of reels from TikTok users, which illustrate the current discourse and make the topic accessible to people who do not use social media. ‘Man vs. Bear’ opens up a low-threshold discourse on “viral” topics and at the same time poses a question that everyone can answer - man, or rather bear?
BREATH/PROVOCATION (2024)
8:30 min, no audio
‘In one screen she herself comes into the picture. But we don't see her eyes - the part of the body that we, from European art history, consider to be the character-forming part. We see her neck, upper chest and chin. We see the most vulnerable part of her body. Where we can't breathe. Where our throats are choked by the violence and hatred. The artist breathes. She takes a deep breath. She takes a deep breath and finds the strength to carry on. The strength to look and expose this monstrous world of misogyny for us.’
- Franziska Schrödinger, curator of the exhibition ‘Look at me’,
Gedok Gallery, January 2025
‘Breath/Provocation (2024)’ is the first video in the sub-series
‘Resilience Screens’, which takes a look at the consequences for all those who are not cis men. Based on classic ‘reaction videos’ from social media, they represent a reclaiming of one's own physicality and integrity in or despite the partriachat - a provocation to rest in oneself and draw strength, despite everything.
BRO BOTS (2025)
9mins, video + audio, english subtitles
"Already men can buy an app and create the perfect ideal girlfriend, customisable in every way, from breast size to eye color, to personality, with absolutely everything except the ability to say no." - Laura Bates, Author of "The New Age of Sexism"
The Tech Bros promise: Complete domination over the female body.
AI-controlled sex robots are the future in which every man* can have the perfect woman* - even if it's just a computer in female form, a slave who always obeys, designed and programmed, available for purchase. The design and handling of these bodies tells us a lot about sexism, objectification and control in the age of new technologies.