Yosefina Says

Digital Graffiti, Activism, Blogging

[yosefinasays]

Online Activist Resources: A Compendium

I've been reading into the history of Digital Activism, as I do my own work. And I have uncovered articles, blogs, and social networking sites dedicated to digital activism. It seemed like a good idea for me to share them here. To save someone else the work later down the line.

I'll be updating this post periodically with more resources:

Social:

Networks

Unified is a social network for activism. It combines social media and organizing tools to make it easy to build and participate in communities committed to positive change.

Unified - The social network for activism

Unified is a social network for activists, organizers, and anyone that believes a better world is possible.

Forums/Reddits/Discords

Articles

https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-environmental-hacktivists-trying-to-sabotage-mining-companies/

https://therecord.media/interview-with-guacamaya-hacktivist-group-latin-america

Resources

The ecectrohippie collective

The electrohippie collective are a group exploring the on-line boundaries of protest, organising, and the use of technologically mediated systems for networking, freedom of expression and communications in support of community or individual campaigns.

Arising out of a group of 'electronic' environmental and social activists during the late 1990s, "the electrohippies" became infamous after the Seattle Protests in 1999. Since then they have focussed on activities that keep them out of the news due to the obstructive hassles that such notoriety creates.

http://www.fraw.org.uk/electrohippies/index.shtml

Digital-Activist.org

Digital-Activist.org is an initiative by The Movement Hub project to support grassroots groups and movements in amplifying their impact with a diversity of digital campaigning tools.

https://digital-activist.org/

Rhizome

Rhizome is the home of born-digital art and culture since 1996. Learn about us and our #preservation, #commissions, and #7x7 programs. Explore #artworks, #publication, community, and events, online and IRL, or search our archives.

https://rhizome.org/

[yosefinasays]

Capsule Sites: Guerrilla Networks For Digital Activism

This essay was written in response to those questioning the value of using the state's own artifices as a battleground. Although this essay does not provide a perfect solution, It can hopefully serve as the basis of illuminating discussion.

***

Although a majority of the internet is commodified and serves to reinforce this paradigm, this is not an intrinsic condition of the internet. But a product of the culture in which the internet was discovered. Though websites like Facebook and eBay will continue to exist, since they serve both as expedients and abstractions of social phenomena already occurring within a culture, their existence does not preclude other designs.

There is nothing stopping someone from establishing an alternative network whose design accounts for different parameters. Our problem is not due to constraints of the medium. Its potential is only confined by the boundaries of our minds. Heinously, mental limits are reinforced by prevailing themes in culture, the existence of shackling symbols, and what Situationists deemed the Spectacle.

It will only be through confronting these artifices that new methods and potentials will emerge. Till we fight far enough, we will unfortunately be fighting blind, but this does not make the fight less noble. Making the conceit that I too am a product of my time, I propose one method of moving forward.

The deployment of capsule sites within corporate space. If a website can be defined as one or more webpages of related content identified by a common domain name, a capsule site is a meta-structure built within the confines of existing domains, though not bound to them, that can be navigated by some means, allowing it to be interfaced with as if it were a website within itself.

The structure is not given shape by a common domain but by the connections between individual nodes. Capsule sites can be built with hyperlinks or hashtags; as long as there is a means of navigating from one node to another, it is possible to launch a capsule site. But how is the structure useful?

Imagine an eco-activist campaign. The goal is to spread awareness of and garner support for legislation protecting the planet. To gain traction, the activists first decide to target three companies with large carbon footprints. They prioritize these social media accounts, not only because of their environmental impact but also because of their large followings. The activists then choose a hashtag for their action campaign. For instance, they choose #GreenToday29.

This is done to connect the nodes to a unique handle, forming a network. They then generate content typical of campaigns of their type — infographics, art, etc. — and deploy them on the target pages. In effect, they have created a campaign website within the social media accounts of these brands, successfully subverting the space while also increasing their cause’s exposure by capitalizing on those brands’s existing audiences.

This guerrilla approach to creating networks using existing domains can be applied to numerous campaigns and projects. Through the intelligent deployment of capsule sites, we can not only succeed in organizing and executing direct action, but also radically reorganize the way we navigate the web.

[yosefinasays]

Kollectiv Campaign To Combat Food Disparity #announcement

#thekollectiv Our hashtag for the November 28th Demonstration to combat food disparity will be #thekollectivNov28. All those wishing to participate in our digital graffiti exhibition should use this tag.

[yosefinasays]

In Defense Of Electronic Civil Disobedience

There has been some criticism lodged against us. Claims have been made that our activism is merely engagement. That our movement is sort of sofa ersatz activism. However, in order for this argument to hold true, you must make a central conceit. That the concrete world is somehow more real than the digital. Members of The Kollectiv do not view the net from this narrow scope. We see the digital realm as an extension of the more abstract plain of technology. We see the space, though incorporeal on a macroscale, to be very real.

The average user in 2024, spent a 1/5th of their life online. Whether engaging with shopping, posting, or just browsing the net this is a significant portion of time. Enough time is spent on the net that a culture has emerged around various social media sites. Artifacts are made that can only be interacted with in the digital space. And people can become totally enmeshed in a digital world if they wish. Interacting with the greater world almost exclusively in the digital realm. 

An extreme example would be an individual who works as a digital nomad, does all their shopping online, and interacts with others exclusively through social media. Although this individual would be seen to be living a fringe net lifestyle, this way of life is very possible. To argue that activism should not be done through the medium of technology is only alienating. It does not serve one's greater purpose. 64% of the world is online. That is 5.52 billion souls. 

Though The Kollectiv adopts a view of the internet separate from those informed by commodity and corporate interest, the economic activity on the net can’t be ignored. Imagine the disruptive potential of a boycott. The sheer volume of activity allows the activist to make lasting change on the world. We can look back to The Gamestop Short Squeeze. A grassroots political action originating in Wallstreets Bets. To go further back in history we can make reference to the initiatives of net.artists. Groups such as the VNS created works like the “A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century”. Work like this advanced both feminism and digital art. To write off the digital landscape as a lesser landscape of reform, activism, and engaging art, one would have to ignore the efficacy of these movements. 

Going further into the political landscape we can look at the example set by Net Strike. A software that was deployed by activists in the 90’s for digital sit ins. It essentially was a tool for groups to orchestrate DDOS attacks. A vector of protest, that has unfortunately been taken from the general public and is now deployed heinously by state actors to suppress movements. This reversal if anything shows that net activism should be more staunchly defended. The internet is now often the first point of contact individuals have with any movement. And it is also the center of global operations. Are rights on the net should be defended, advanced, and clearly defined. The right to protest should not just extend to the physical space, when the digital space is becoming such a driving factor in our lives.

The Kollectiv’s digital graffiti campaign and its current food disparity initiative is only the beginning. We plan on continuing to mobilize people to be the change they want to see in the world. By establishing our ad hoc hyperlink structure: essentially a website built within the framework of another. We will be raising awareness for our cause. Making people think about the effects of food disparity, while considering new ways to experience the internet. Are either of these aims ignoble? I do not believe so.

We are continuing in the footsteps of activists such as The Electro Hippies. Advancing methods of protest into the 21st Century. We are also continuing the efforts of situationist thinkers. Now that globalism taken home and the internet has pushed commodity and spectacle into our home. We must attack it at its source if liberty is to continue to flourish and grow for future generations.

 To ignore the possibilities of change now is rob the children of the future of their potential fruit. That is why I continue to call for the development of net.art and methods of activism on the web. Not only to raise awareness for causes affecting us here and now, but to change the landscape of the internet for the people of the future.

[yosefinasays]

I love the ethereal glow the scanner adds to an image. It gives me the feeling of being trapped underneath the piece. The image quality is also astounding. Allowing you to zoom in and really take in the texture of a material. I really do think scanography occupies a special middle ground between photograph and collage.

[yosefinasays]

The Thanksgiving Day Parade

On November 28th the digital graffiti enclave The Kollectiv will occupy the social media accounts of McDonald's, Wendy's, and Starbucks. We will be exhibiting art to both demonstrate a new form of protest and raise awareness of food disparity in the U.S and around the world. We will essentially be making an ad-hoc website using hyperlinks to art, poetry, and prose.

Our work is informed by the modern hip-hop and punk ethos. And it is directly related to the real world. The synthesis of concrete and digital that is the modern day. We hope to show a different way of looking at the web.

One that isn't solely focused on commodity, capital, and convenience. One where we acknowledge the impact technology has on our lived experience. Only through adopting different frames of mind when accessing the dimension of technology can we fully explore the depth of experiences it has to offer.

[yosefinasays]

"Apple A Still Life" is a photo scan collage. It was made for The Kollectiv's campaign to fight food disparity. I like how the piece seems to stand upright though it is a flat image. The scanner seems to impart a ghostly quality to the work.

[yosefinasays]

A Little About Me:

I wanted to give you all some insight into who I am. I'll probably periodically update this blog post. Sharing more about myself as time goes on. 

My name is Yosefina Justice Nikole Orlando. I am a transgender activist and artist. For a time, I traversed the S&M underworld. Studying under a dominatrix to learn the craft of dominance and submission. I had hopes of pursuing a career in sex work and adult entertainment. Traveling in the set, I came on the fringe of disgusting things. Heard rumors, became aware of tales of what happened to other girls, and bought myself a stun gun to stay safe. 

Now stopping human trafficking is something I'm passionate about. And I plan to work with my digital graffiti enclave, The Kollectiv, to spread awareness and raise funds for the cause. We as a group also champion women's rights, climate activism, lgbtq+ issues, and food disparity, and we also support war-related relief efforts. 

I dedicate a significant portion of my life to art and music. And I love hip-hop. The fashion and culture have influenced all my art, including my collages and prose. The candor in reflecting lived experience with a gritty realism that doesn't fall into the blue but maintains its resistance is a thematic element in a majority of my work. I am currently exploring the scanner as a vehicle for artistic expression. I find it occupies a middle ground between collage and photography, and I'm excited to see where it leads.

[yosefinasays]

"Ghost Cream": Created as a part of a food disparity direct action campaign initiative of The Kollectiv. I'm starting to see the scanner as a medium in itself. A form occupying the middle ground between photography and collage. You can get interesting effects from applying various substances to the scanner. The way the light hits will affect the end result. I feel the ethereal glow of this piece with the mundane, almost kawaii subject matter made into ectoplasm by the machine, which fits well with the concept of digital graffiti and the greater hip-hop culture ethos.

[yosefinasays]

Is This Inflation? A piece created as part of The Kollectiv's direct action campaign to fight food disparity in the U.S. and around the world. If you would like to join this or other initiatives, join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/JAPDCffK

[yosefinasays]

Cherry Bomb A piece created as part of The Kollectiv's direct action campaign to fight food disparity in the U.S. and around the world. If you would like to join this or other initiatives, join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/JAPDCffK

[yosefinasays]

Food For Gaza A piece created as part of The Kollectiv's direct action campaign to fight food disparity in the U.S. and around the world. If you would like to join this or other initiatives, join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/JAPDCffK

[yosefinasays]

Useless Food Number One A piece created as part of The Kollectiv's direct action campaign to fight food disparity in the U.S. and around the world. If you would like to join this or other initiatives, join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/JAPDCffK

[yosefinasays]

Transparency:

Originally the work was in a pdf format. It is a self-portrait of the artist. It is composed of their unfiltered browser history. You can explore the websites that inform the work. It also brings to the fore the lack of anonymity we have. It then playfully throws the fact in our faces.

[yosefinasays]

Modern Homunculus:

Part of a series of digital collage paintings depicting corporate chimeras.

[yosefinasays]

The contrast is harsh, being one of my first digital collage paintings, but I'm proud of it. The idea came to me when thinking about gender dynamics. I was walking through a gallery and some of the art moved me to consider how guilt was placed on Eve for her original sin. And I wanted to play with the concept. See how I can reclaim the moment of original sin in an act of gleeful revenge.

[yosefinasays]

One of my early attempts to capture the feeling of texture in a digital space.