In her work so far, Magdaléna Kašparová has drawn mainly on personal archives, which are memories of a particular place or her own life. Her fascination with data collection and its media representation, in this case in the environment of social networking algorithms, is also key to her installation for Galerie TIC. In doing so, she explores and looks critically and at the same time amusingly at the image that this data paints of us. What kind of person are you in your reels?
To better understand Magdalena Kašparová's current work, it's essential to view her artistic portfolio in its entirety and recognize the Delulu Hoarding project as a part of her thematically cohesive filmography and exhibition history. Her work frequently incorporates large collections of everyday objects or data from old phones. These collections serve as time capsules from the artist's adolescence, reflecting her experiences with an eating disorder, a theme she explores in several projects. One of the most striking is the video Storytime (2021), in which the artist styles herself as a vlogger and, in an ironic imitation of the language of YouTubers, scrolls through photos and videos from her phone from 2008, the time when she was being treated for anorexia in a hospital in Motol.
The light "retro" style of the video and the "data archaeology" of the popular "dumbphones" create a feeling of pleasant nostalgia. Still, the content of the message is much less pleasant. Set against the backdrop of photographs of fellow patients, we hear a narrative detailing the tactics used to boycott treatment, the inhumane methods employed, and the inappropriate and hurtful labels imposed by treatment staff.
In the Delulu hoarding project, nostalgia turns into "girl rage" and the archaeology of one's own history is replaced by an exploration of the present, though resistance to stereotyping remains. The Overly Attached Girlfriend meme was created in 2012 by Reddit as a sexist and misogynistic commentary on stereotypically "dysfunctional" male-female relationship dynamics. Although it is more of an example from meme history, Magdaléna Kašparová paraphrases it in her own way and develops it by ironically stylizing it into a World's Best Ex Girlfriend character. In her role as a TikToker and influencer, she brings us content designed by algorithms for single women in their thirties. Referencing a certain generational affiliation and citing the internet history of meme culture aligns with Magdalena's interest in the history of pop culture trends. It also plays a crucial role in understanding the content delivered by algorithms.
However, the profile of a financially independent young woman "with no strings attached" is also a ready target for content created by "Instagram philosophers" or "Instagram psychologists", i.e. motivational quotes against the backdrop of a softcore girly aesthetic based on Y2K nostalgia. It is for the group of "independent thirtysomethings" that this content is supposed to be "empowering".
Treat yourself well... An unspoken yet present connection in this context for Magdalena remains the aspect of the commodification of our privacy. However, amid the innocently entertaining content filled with parodied relationship stereotypes and empowering messages, you can also find online Pilates classes and perhaps offers for spiritual retreats. Determinism hittin' hard.
