The animated poster humoristically titled after the explicit emoticon “( . )( . )”—to be freely interpreted by the viewers either as simplified breasts or as a pair of eyes staring at them—puts a satirical twist on the infamous concept of the so-called “male gaze”: Inspired by the sarcastic catchphrase “My eyes are up here!”—a sentence which is frequently used within popular media in the context of scenes focused on the blatant objectification of conventionally attractive women—it critically refers to this exact phenomenon of contemporary movies and TV shows commonly presenting seemingly funny depictions of sexual harassment and its role in downplaying the actual, intimidating reality of female experiences related to catcalling and other inappropriate behaviour, making male viewers feel just as weirdly uncomfortable and relentlessly stared at in the same way for once as well.
By turning this reinterpretation of the “female gaze” into a feminist countermovement characterized by an inversion of these typical roles and as a way of actively reclaiming the female body as a physical construct of immense power, the artist aims to raise awareness about the traumatizing impact of sexual harassment in public by experientially visualizing the everyday life of female-presenting individuals.
(2026)