Selfies, still lives, self-discipline and subversion with artist/author Dawn Woolley

Multiple Os

In this brand new interview with the artist and author Dawn Woolley, we discuss her brand new book Consuming the body: Capitalism, Social Media and Commodification published by Bloomsbury on 6 Oct 2022. The book is a sociological study of contemporary consumerism and the commodified construction of ideal gendered bodies, paying particular attention to the new forms of interaction produced by social networking sites. In short, there’s a lot of analysis of the phenomenon of the selfie.

The book describes the behaviours of an ideal neoliberal subject, that is, the type of person produced by the current form of capitalism – the kind of capitalism that promotes competitive individualism and defines human worth in solely economic terms. In this context, Woolley identifies the sadistic demands the market makes of us, which is how we are transformed into self-disciplining subjects, but importantly, she also highlights forms of pleasure and opportunities for subversion.

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.
Dawn Woolley is an artist and academic whose work examines representations of gender in adverts, magazines, on TV and online in order to appropriate their visual language and expose the stereotypes they reproduce. In 2017 Woolley's photograph The Substitute (holiday) was designated the world's best selfie by GQ magazine, after winning Saatchi gallery's from selfie to self-expression competition. Woolley is also a research fellow at Leeds Art University. The book launch event is Friday, 21 Oct, 5.30 - 7 pm at Leeds Art University or online, book here.

Additional artworks, authors and artists mentioned in the podcast:

• Dawn Woolley's The Substitute Series
• Bois of Isolation Instagram project by Dawn Woolley and AC Davidson
• Artists: Alok Vaid-Menon, Caspar White, Martha Wilson and Mary Kelly
• Hillel Schwartz
• Erving Goffman
• Victory (Nike) Adjusting Her Sandal, Temple of Athena Nike (Acropolis)

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Introductory Voiceover by John Kilduff, aka Mr. Let's Paint
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Special Thanks to Tom Estes, Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson, Janak Patel and Mimosa House Gallery, London

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