Scandalishious
Ann Hirsch’s Scandalishious was an eighteen-month YouTube-based performance that revolved around Caroline, a persona devised by Hirsch, a self-described “hipster college freshman” who danced for the camera, vlogged, and interacted with her followers, who then posted comments and shared their own response videos. Comprising not only Caroline’s videos but the relations engendered by them as well, Scandalishious is an early example of a truly social media-based artwork.
Hirsch’s performance as Caroline explored self-representation as feminist practice, and its limits. She adopted the genre conventions of the camgirl with a self-awareness that at times bordered on parody, while taking evident pleasure in the power and freedom and micro-celebrity it afforded her, and the complexity of Caroline and her online interactions. Ultimately, Scandalishious situates itself at a fluctuating critical distance from Hirsch’s subject: girls online.