Skin Job (2002)

Art Jones created this work for the "Word" show opening this April at Diverse Works in Houston. Participants were each asked to respond with a visual, audio, or virtual piece to an article or essay. This work is a dialogue between an artist and a writer. For "Skin Job," I responded to contemporary theorist Laura Kipnis's writings on pornography. I explore the parallels between her descriptions of sexualized female bodies and how many writers address technology – the fetishization of both flesh and machines. The piece features an original haiku suggesting the heroine is an android, a bionic woman experiencing loneliness, sexuality, and desire in an empty, futuristic space where she feels observed and disoriented. It considers how virtual identity shapes our idea of a modern utopia.