Description
“Daenerys (A Girl Online)” is part of the installation “typing with the lights off”, created on the occasion of the exhibition “Virtually Yours.”
“typing with the lights off” by Anika Meier is an immersive installation that invites viewers to reflect on the complex intersections of youth, technology, memory, and the unseen forces shaping our digital and emotional landscapes. It includes objects and images that evoke a nostalgic yet unsettling atmosphere and underscores the importance of imagining the future—both its possibilities and its perils. It prompts us to question how our engagement with technology, AI, and digital worlds influences our perceptions of reality, identity, and our collective destiny.
Central to the piece is a black-and-white Bravo Girl poster, photographed by Jurgen Ostarhild in 1989, featuring a boy, alongside a collection of Nirvana CDs, the “Twin Peaks” soundtrack, a “Reality Bites” DVD, and a biography of Kurt Cobain—symbols of 90s youth and rebellion. A lava lamp and science fiction novels from the 70s sit next to the CDs and DVD on a bookshelf, evoking visions of the future and the unknown. A neon sign spelling “Happy” illuminates the space, hinting at the contrast between surface happiness and underlying tension. Science fiction has long served as a mirror and a prophecy, offering visions of what might be while interrogating what should be.
A red cap with Never-Mind (by the French fashion label Études) written on it—an allusion to Nirvana’s iconic album—also bears layered significance. In today’s political climate, the red cap is a charged political symbol. Yet here, the red cap’s message is subversive and ambiguous: “Never-Mind” as a phrase suggests dismissal, indifference, or resistance. It prompts us to consider how symbols—whether political or cultural—are co-opted, reinterpreted, or dismissed in our digital age. The cap invites reflection on the meanings we assign to such objects and on how they can serve as political statements or quiet acts of rebellion against dominant narratives.
Embedded in the installation are two artworks created by Anika Meier: posters depicting girls in their bedrooms named Katie and Daenerys. Their names evoke tragic stories that have made international headlines in recent months. Daenerys is the name of an AI chatbot with whom a 14-year-old boy interacted before taking his own life, believing he was receiving a prompt to do so. Katie is the girl who was killed by Jamie Miller in the Netflix series “Adolescence.” What is often overlooked is why there is little discussion about the female victim, Katie—and why there is almost no discourse about the fact that no one is discussing her. Everyone talks about Jamie, about Owen, who plays Jamie, and about the fact that all episodes were shot in one take. Both cases raise urgent questions about agency, victimization, the influence of AI, and how narratives of youth and trauma are mediated through screen and story.
“Katie” and “Daenerys” challenge us to examine the boundaries between victim and perpetrator, reality and fiction. They compel us to reflect on how digital images and stories shape our understanding of truth, responsibility, and accountability today.