Noura Tafeche
Annihilation Core Inherited Lore ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶

Exhibition
24 February–28 March 2025
Aksioma | Project Space, Ljubljana

Opening
TUE, 24 February at 7 PM

Part of Tactics&Practice #16: Are You A Software Update?
Curated by Nora O’ Murchú, Socrates Stamatatos, Janez Fakin Janša, Neja Berger

Cute eyes, thirst trap hotties, cosy rugs, soft pillows, and adorable trinkets – beyond these plush comforts and meticulous attention to decor, an unsettling atmosphere lurks. The popular online aesthetic operates in the service of the exaltation of war culture. Used as a lure to attract, the kawaii-fication of violence seduces and gamifies those who encounter it, welcoming the misogynistic, supremacist, and racist neo-ideologies it seeks to glorify.

Influenced by gamer-girl and otaku room aesthetics, and drawing from recent events such as NATO’s inaugural gaming tournament—where global participants competed while engaging with alliance experts—the installation accelerates these online subcultures toward an undesirable yet likely future. From a remote-controlled military operations desktop station, amidst plushies and UAV drone models, visitors can explore the evolving fusion of the military-entertainment complex and gaming culture, and their entanglements with digital militarism and modern armies’ recruiting strategies.

THE AUTHOR

Noura Tafeche is a visual artist, onomaturge and independent researcher working in between installations, videos, neologisms, archiving practices, laboratories, experimental applied methodologies and miniature drawings. Her areas of research expand on the subjects of visual culture and its techno-political implications with a focus on operational images, digital militarism, online aesthetics, internet hyper-niches and meme culture, philosophy of language and visual representation of speculative imaginaries. She has exhibited internationally in various contexts, including at Pirelli Hangar Biccoca, Tainan Art Museum and transmediale.

[+] RELATED ACTIVITIES

WORKSHOP

Noura Tafeche
The Internet Is a Horrible Place and I’m Here to Make It Worse
Wed, 26 February 2025 at 2 PM
The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, UL, Video, Animation and New Media, Tobačna 5, Ljubljana

FREE admission. Registration requited!

LECTURE PERFORMANCE

Noura Tafeche, Alex Quicho
She’s Evil, Most Definitively Subliminal
Tue, 25 February 2025 at 3 PM
Kino Šiška, Ljubljana

PUBLICATION

The Kawayoku Tales: Aestheticisation of Violence in Military, Gaming, Social Media Cultures and Other Stories
PostScriptUM #51

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