Weaving

A Guide To Softer Ware is a collaborative exploration of contemporary and not-so-contemporary languages of instruction in the context of “womanhood”, calling out their binary notions of gender designation as a social construct. Through analysing their own behavior as socialised women, and simultaneously analysing guides by women addressing other women about how to be a woman, Charlotte Rohde and Vera van de Seyp expose the idea of the manual as a (self-)imposed directive, trapped between the imperative to be unconditionally affirmed and the need to be in charge of one’s own narrative.

The format of the manual is used here as a rhetorical construct that explores how the social roles of women have been impacted by the rise of new technologies from the second half of the 20th century until now. With their shared background ranging from (type-)design to creative coding, Charlotte Rohde and Vera van de Seyp (quite literally) deconstruct and reprogramme these languages of instruction: From the wording used in 1960s technical manuals for sewing machines, knitting machines and various domestic appliances addressing women as a new target group to Memes and YouTube tutorials as a phenomenon representing the contemporary internet culture of self-optimization.

With their Guide To Softer Ware the two artists reflect on the supposed need for guidance and the forms this guidance has historically taken and still takes. The exhibition at soft power presents new works by the two artists that may function as a manual for the spectators and simultaneously as type specimens. The use of tools and typography, soap and metal, software and code (and ultimately, the use of the body itself), invites us to question the „softness“ historically/conventionally/subconsciously assigned to certain materials and spaces, to gender and its construction.

Organised by Soft Power, Vera van de Seyp, Charlotte Rohde

22.11.24

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Soyun Park

A Collective Booklet for Computational Woman

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ulWL11fkAagmib_Bgb2NOEIJhqcmT4U866RjllE4ckA/edit#gid=766678385

Project

Individual

social

Weaving

A Collective Booklet for Computational Women is an open document project on google sheets to share stories of women with their machines. Any woman can create their own sheet to share their photos and the stories they hold about their computers. It is created to protest against the stereotype and to empower our passion towards technology.

“Growing up, I was always curious about computers and technology, and I've often heard people say things like 'it's weird that you're good with computers as a girl'.”

Soyun Park

22.11.24

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As the online realm often feels infinite, this directory highlights non-commercial, critical, and experimental online content related (but not limited) to fashion and creative practices. It features projects, essays, visuals, and events, offering tools to navigate this dynamic landscape.

In gathering a wide variety of practitioners and collectives, we are always expanding, and looking to add to this growing bibliography of ‘being online’.

If you've encountered or created something that fits within this scope, feel free to share and submit!

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