Chiara No creates pseudo-sexual highly politicized video art. She finds inspiration in sex worker and porn star social media accounts, decoding loopholes in Instagram’s policy algorithm. Her videos becomes absurdly cropped political references to sexualized content that often slide right under Instagram’s radar.
No’s recent videos feature “crotch shots” where the artist writes political slogans on her bare thighs. Often she crops the background and her knees from the picture. These crops point a finger at the absurdity of Instagram’s algorithm obscenity censor. One video including the artist’s knees was flagged immediately, while the same post, closely cropped to her crotch was not flagged.
Since No’s work is ignored by Instagram’s algorithm, trolls are her biggest challenge. These nefarious users search out content they disagree with and continually report it. There is very little oversight as to what and how often these stalker like trolls can harass users.
Where Instagram has a strict policy of punishing artists for violating community guidelines, there are no guidelines for falsely reporting or harassing others. Even after artists appeal false accusations, their trolls are allowed to continue following them anonymously.
This is a declaration of war to artists like Chiara No, and her work strikes at the heart of Instagram’s policies. Yet Instagram’s lack of policing trolls does create a culture of fear and confusion and unlike this artist, many wish to only live their lives and not wage a war for self expression.
IMAGE CREDIT: All Images Courtesy The Artist