I write to organise my ideas.
Defining positions
After landing on feminism in 2006, I spent a few years researching and reflecting.
In London around 2010, when I wrote these articles, feminism was considered an outdated, even offensive, topic.
The reason why (feminist story)
The merits of women and men are not measured equally. The old error of considering women inferior is still around.
Um, I never liked this stereotype, it’s so ugly, but it’s a gift from society and I’m reluctant to just throw it away.
Short text written in 2009 in response to a survey for the book Reclaiming the F-word. The New Feminist Movement by Catherine Redfern and Kristin Aune
Those who want to imagine they are superior try to create ideals of perfection that resemble them.
I am a feminist. Does that make my work inherently feminist? If I make feminist art, does it become propaganda?
This article was written for the European Feminist Forum in 2009 as part of the debate about financing feminist art organised by Switch Metaphors.
Feminist manifesto
Behind the artwork
These are some texts that accompany my artwork on propaganda, economy and birth between 2003 and 2013.
The Politics of Breastfeeding by Gabrielle Palmer
Having to go back to work is one of the main causes mothers stop breastfeeding or don’t even start.
Consumerism as a diversion from politics
Confusing personal desires with collective rights has its roots in the principles of marketing, back when it was still called propaganda and had just been invented.
On how we are meant to give birth
Why do people think it’s okay to tell a pregnant woman how to give birth?
Adam Smith & neoliberal nonsense
Smith is not interested in how things are, but in how they should be. Adam Smith attacked greed and defended moderation, decency and justice.
The Art of Commitment
Research Paper for the MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, London 2007.
1. Introduction
In The Art of Commitment, I argue that the function of art is political and that it is used to serve the interests of a market economy.
2. What is art?
In order for any theory of art to exist, one must be able to distinguish what is art from what is not.
3. The function of art through history
In the time of Plato and Aristotle, the function of art was social. Today we are used to art for art’s sake.
4. The current context
Our advanced capitalist market economy is based on supply and demand, and the specialised production of goods and knowledge.
5. How the current context shapes people
It is essential to be able to distinguish between the insignificant and the essential. But in the current context it is difficult to discern.
6. The arts world in the current context
The art world is a reflection of the world around it. Artists and academics have internalised the needs of the system of which they are part.
7. The artist
Most artists throughout history have produced homogeneous, conformist and complacent art.
8. The art of commitment
Art is always political. It exists within a context and uses elements that have a historical, political and social dimension.