Questions from MARTYNA KEDZIERSKA March 2011

1. Have you got an artist or other feminist icon that inspires you? See below

2. I have to say that you seem to be very creative and persuasive. You create videos, outfits, and other objects that are needed during each campaign. I found it quite inspiring and to be honest I would like to ask you where do you take ideas for your performances from? How long do you prepare for each of them?

Most of the time I have get ideas from frustration and/or conversation with others. Sometimes I will plan a piece for a few weeks and at the last minute change it completely. Mostly I act very quickly on my ideas as they are responding to a political issue or story in the media.

3. You are an feminist activist, and besides the fact that you are young, ambition, and seem to be very active person in processional and personal life you still have a time for a feminist activism. what messages do you try to communicate to the public? Do you think these messages are heard and understood?

I am still young yes, for another 10 days and then I will be 30 ;-)

The main messages the Muffia has tried to convey to the public are; freedom of choice and questioning of cultural norms and mainstream media agendas. The focus has been centred around women's image, young girls identity, young men's understanding of the pornographic images of women and the general sexualisation of everything in our culture.  The message are displayed or performed using humour which really helps to engage the viewer, I think they are understood but maybe not heard as much as I would like.

4. Why 'The Muffia'?  

It was born out of a conversation with my partner at the time, I really liked the name, I thought it was very apt for concept of The Muffia and the growing trends of labia surgery, increased hair removal and symbolic power of a woman's genitals. I wanted to make a powerful statement and a catchy name helps!

5. I was wondering if you ever experience kind of discrimination and maybe even offencive behaviour from the public? Your campaigns are to provoke, shock and as I suppose to wake up the mass culture but how usually people react to your campaigns?

Any negative reactions I have had from the public have made me laugh. When a friend or relative is ashamed of what I do I find that the hardest struggle. Being a feminist isn't easy, being an extrovert performance artist using women centred issues can be hard for people to accept. A lot of people don't want to make a fuss, a lot of people don't realise how easy it is to have a voice, even a disagreement to a misogynist comment has a big impact.

6. Do you have a campaign or maybe any other feminist event that you enjoyed most? and why?

I think the video FHM HQ was one of my favourite guerrilla activities and doing a satirical comedy show based on two female characters at the Edinburgh Fringe was a highlight for me. Accessing so many people with a message that is political and funny is a great feeling at a time when feminism is taking off.

6. What is your opinion about the recent portrayal of women in the mass media culture?

Where to start! I think one of the biggest issues I would like to tackle is the sexualisation of women and men and girls and boys, I don't think it is as one sided as it used to be and we need to start looking at the agendas of the advertising industry full stop.

Women are often portrayed as flawless, animalistic, sexual beings for advertising and as tainted, out of control, disloyal, jealous, defected characters in gossip columns.

7. As a women, and as a feminist, what is your opinion about the contemporary feminism?

After recently attending Women of the World at the Southbank I think feminism needs to get far more aggressive and less divided by pedantic differences. The main objective of feminism is to achieve equality.  We need to pull together to make the cause come into effect, one of our strenghts as women is being organised and committed but we have a thousand organisations all dispersing energy into smaller campaigns. 

8. It seems that women are under-represented in all industries even in art. I will try to promote them on my blog and during the exhibition. Since you are an artist I would like to ask you  what do you think about the contemporary feminist art?

I think the making of art is a powerful action, one that often scares me. My opinion of contemporary feminist art is really more of a idea that art needs to become more accessible and less institutionalised or promoted based on status, class, gender or geographical origins.

And finally:

9. I ask this question everyone: Why do you do that? What are you trying to achieve by your activism?

Its a nature impulse for me to act as I do, I am a artist, I use my body, I use my voice and sometimes my hands to create something to communicate. I am also a bit of a show off.

 

 

Questions from Charlotte February 2011

Answered by Katie O'Brien

I wondered what or who your feminist influences are?

My mum is the biggest feminist influence on me, I am currently very inspired by Bird La Bird, Kat Baynard, OBJECT and JD Samson. Growing up I liked Lois Weaver, Peggy Shaw (Split Britches), Guerilla Girls, Marina Abramovic, Cindy Sherman, Marlene Dumas, Jenny Holzer, Georgia O'Keefe, Sarah Lucas and many more, I think my favorite favourite is Niki de St Phalle for her mixed media shooting paintings.

What are the main issues of feminism you are trying to address in your performance art? 

I think the pressures of homogenised images and stereotypes from the mainstream media is a big factor addressed.  Ultimately the performances are about vocalising and provoking ideas of choice, freedom, individuality and equality.

And whether you consider your work to be successful in voicing these issues to the public?

At present I think The Muffia needs to expand and work on a larger scale project. There are a lot of small pro active feminist groups in the UK, how ever small your action is your are part of a greater consciousness. Feminists are not as isolated as before as you will see on the ukfeminista website, as a result there are a lot of exciting things happening.