The Laboratory of Feminist Memory Bar, part of The ARTivism Lab Speakers Series, featured an impressive range of feminist artists and their artefacts, both contemporary and dating back to the second-wave feminist movement in the 80s. It was particularly interesting to take in the dichotomy of modern feminist art compared to the pieces from thirty years ago. While the most notable change lies in the differing mediums, and somewhat in subject matter, it’s remarkable how resonant many of the themes are to the modern feminist struggle, over thirty years later. Whether a web series, song, poem, film or collection of instagram posts, the artefacts shared a good mix of shared and diverse features.
Midi Onodera’s 1985 film Ten Cents a Dance was beautifully shot, while the storylines remain relevant to current relations in the digital age. Since coming to university I’ve come across many conversations reminiscent of the opening excerpt, about discovering how one’s sexuality is constantly being discovered. The physical divide on screen was a striking way to present the physical and social divide that exists between characters simply attempting to connect and find love. I was immediately reminded of a quotation by American multimedia artist Signe Pierce, whose work is often concerned with themes of surveillance and connection in the digital age. “The government has long-been surveying our webcams in search of ‘terrorists,’ but instead have found that most citizens use the internet to connect and to find sex & love. When will our politicians’ agendas reflect humankind’s instinctual motivation to find & share love with each other? Why is the focus of policy so often built around hate & fear?” Pierce’s words ring true especially in the bathroom scene reminiscent of the Toronto bathhouse raids. The film is a stark reminder that we all yearn to feel connected and part of a community.
Anna Willatz brilliantly written poem challenged the notions of the traditional nuclear family, documenting the insemination process as a lesbian attempting to conceive about thirty years ago. With eloquence and humour, Willatz presented a side of conception I had never given much thought to. The performance was informative, entertaining and continued to make an entire room burst into laughter, proving its contemporary relevance.
Grace Lao’s presentation of social media posts was an interesting dichotomy to the older artefacts. For me, it not only represented how much artivism has changed through the decades but also how social networks have allowed us to pat ourselves on the back while putting in minimum effort or commitment. Obviously, spreading awareness through the binary is good! But it can also facilitate shallow discussion. Many of the posts were informative, humorous or interesting, but it seems concerning when the discussion fails to move past these posts. It worries me that in thirty years, students will look through awareness posts on social media as “artefacts” and realize the negative impact they had on organized activism.