UNCANNY VALLEY | STACIE ANT
Uncanny Valley (2020) by Stacie Ant is the fifth video presented within the program FILTRO, the third edition of DIGITAL VIDEO WALL, an annual project structured in thematic chapters, aimed at promoting the dissemination and experimentation of digital art.
Creating a film montage and a narrative whose protagonists are three characters and their respective avatars, Ant comments on the development of projects around the metaverse and augmented reality. The consequences of these developments are linked to the so-called toxic positivity trends, which influence the representation of the self in the online sphere. The three characters, who live a degraded and grotesque everyday life, find in their digital counterpart an extremization of the parameters of beauty and behavior.
Stacie Ant’s practice is often characterized by a dark humor with which the artist criticizes the male-gaze and the contemporary patriarchal system towards the female body with the aim of emancipating female identity and sexuality, but always leaving space for irony: using 3D software and animations, the artist creates characters, often female, characterized by a strong aesthetic with semi-alien futuristic features, favoring a vaporwave style. In fact, his proximity to the Berlin club culture is fundamental in the production of Ant’s works, which strongly influences the characterization of her characters. Club culture is also present in the artist’s works in the scenographic choices and in the recreation of the environments, with particular attention to music which, together with other influences, define the artist’s aesthetics and planning. “My work is strongly sex-positive, queer, fetish and playful. I am also inspired by auteur cinema and alternative fashion, as well as everyday life – the way I see the world or the way I want to see the world. ”
Uncanny Valley was originally commissioned by the musician Mr Eff but then the project developed in an attempt to represent a socio-digital condition not as absurd and distant as it seems to be. The protagonists, sad in their monotony and squalor, connect to an exoskeleton equipped with a VR viewer and log into a virtual world where they can be anyone and take on the appearance they want. In the exaggeration of plastic perfection, characters can live the life of their dreams and play the best version of themselves, at least until they disconnect from the VR set. In this dystopian vision Ant shows us what our future could be in the Metaverse: between the anguish and disappointment of not adhering with one’s real image to the aesthetic standards imposed by society and the tension towards a surgically perfect version of the self, Uncanny Valley shows the most controversial and disturbing aspects of sociality, between the real and the digital dimension.
© Stacie Ant, Uncanny Valley, 2020, courtesy the artist
16/04/2022