Symposium: Updating the Girl Online

Since the rise of the Barbie movie, the viral #girldinner trend, and discussions on female rage in 2023, the girl has (re)claimed center stage in contemporary cultural debates, perpetuating the claim that everyone is a girl online. Now, more than ever,  the Girl Online as a pop culture avatar intertwined across digital cultures. This figure has become a catalyst for discourse and connection, challenging traditional gender norms with a fluid identity while constantly adapting to cyberspace, ultimately, reshaping the digital landscape long-term.

The Girl Online exists as both a figure and a concept—a projection of a mix of self-determined and ascribed identities. Critically examined through queer feminist theory, media studies, psychoanalysis, political and economic theory, the Girl Online has
become a key player in digital visual cultures. Their distinguishing trait is their identity always already situated in contradictions, which are not to be dissolved but embraced–from the madonna-whore complex to an online presence inscribed in the algorithmic logics of social media platforms. These predicaments raise a crucial question: how/can the Girl Online navigate these contradictions to offer emancipatory possibilities while simultaneously revealing the commodification of identity in late capitalism?

We’re thrilled to explore these dynamics at our upcoming symposium, Updating the Girl Online, on January 14, 2025, in Seminarraum 21 (4th floor) at VZA7. Join us and engage with the lectures held by Alex Quicho, Socrates Stamatatos, and Jennifer Merlyn Scherler, as we approach the Girl Online once more. 

Timetable:

3.45–4pm: Welcome/Introduction

4–4.30pm: Jennifer Merlyn Scherler

4.30–5pm: Socrates Stamatatos

5–5.30pm: Alex Quicho

5.30–6pm: Roundtable discussion

6–6.15pm: Break

6.15–8pm: Open Call presentations


The Symposium will be streamed via Zoom: https://dieangewandte-at.zoom.us/j/64257445127


Alex Quicho is a theorist, lecturer at Central Saint Martins, and research fellow at the Weibel Institute for Digital Cultures. Her practice incorporates critical writing, performative lectures, and moving image, with a focus on how emerging technologies warp social reality and vice-versa. Her ongoing Girlstack project (2023-) gathers extreme and mundane evidence of inhuman Girl intelligence and its secret planetary impact, in the theoretical vein of xenofeminism, pharmacopornographic capitalism, and accelerationism. Variations on the Girlstack have been presented at transmediale, 3HD, London College of Fashion, and elsewhere.

In her lecture ”Girls Never Die”, Alex dissects the inhuman Girl to write her anatomical atlas, from supernormal face to decoy skin.


Jennifer Merlyn Scherler (they/them) is a media intrigued artist based in Switzerland. They self-identify as a fan and draw inspiration from different fan (fiction) communities with an interest in user-generated (filmic) languages created to share knowledge and affection for a particular thing. They are particularly interested in strategies of grieving, remembering and the creation of intimacy. Their visual language is dense with references to popular digital culture and media theoretical texts. It is infused by video material, images and commentary found online. The characters found in Scherler’s work are based on personal experiences and reference internet youth cultures, they are performed by the artist themselves and could be situated in drag. Next to their personal art practice they are engaged in the collective project mcww (memeclassworldwide), teach at the University of Arts in Bern and at the School of Arts in Biel. They have won numerous awards such as the Pax Art Award Emerging Media Artist and Kiefer Hablitzel Prize.

‚to be online is to look hot in an edit‘ is an association-based yappy lecture performance in which Jennifer traces how Girl sexiness helps digital platforms grow and ends up being increasingly restricted.


Socrates Stamatatos is an independent curator and transdisciplinary artist based in Athens, Greece. Their curatorial, artistic and theoretical pursuits deeply engage with the Queer experience and the philosophy of caring, emphasizing the empowerment of marginalized communities through digital technologies. Socrates’ work explores queer digitality and connectivity, aiming to use these tools for community building and empowerment. They investigate how digital spaces can serve as platforms for queer expression and resistance, fostering a dialogue that transcends traditional art boundaries. Their commitment to creating inclusive and accessible art/safe spaces reflects their dedication to social impact and the promotion of diverse artistic voices.

During the lecture performance “My History of Updates”, a Girl gets to recall their past updates as a device/OS, until something goes wrong. (Everything goes fine, the Girl gets self-conscious though).

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In addition, the symposium offers space to share your engagement with the Girl Online in your artistic or theoretical practice. We welcome contributions in all forms of media—essays, videos, visual art, digital projects, podcasts, or anything else that sparks your imagination. Selected submissions will be showcased and presented at the symposium, offering an opportunity to engage with peers, share your voice, and challenge existing narratives. Join us on the project of updating the Girl Online!

Deadline: December 31, 2024
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Contact us on Instagram @weareallgirlsonline or at weareallgirlsonline@gmail.com

Organized by Charlotte Reuß (Department for Art History) & Sophie Publig (Weibel Institute)