THIS IS A PROTEST (2018)

THIS IS A PROTEST is a performance piece in which Schoenberg puts on the superwoman persona and performs an explorative look at her body, in its costume. This gesture has been associated with feminist art critique in the past, and implies a potential empowerment in a ‘getting to know and reclaiming’ of her body. However this gesture is undermined as the mirror reflection is livestreamed to a large scale projection behind her, as it occurs, broadcasting the fragmented image as a propaganda. This gesture is accompanied by a computerized voice, which repeats the phrase “this is a protest” over droning atmospheric sound. The voice holds as authority, while also being noticeably nonhuman. As the performance progresses, the voice becomes increasingly broken and distorted. At its peak, the sound stops, the superwoman turns to face the camera and the phrase shifts to “this is an image”, as she stands posed with her hand on her hip. This performance acts as an attempt for the figure to mediate her failed revolutionary image, which is interrupted by a disembodied voice and then played back out into a mass image for audience consumption, continuing the failed cycle the artist recognizes as happening in contemporary feminism.