Interior Semiotics
Part of a series on Hipster. [View Related Entries]
This entry contains content that may be considered sensitive to some viewers.
About
Interior Semiotics is a video depicting an art student's performance, in which she opens a can of expired Spaghetti-Os, rubs them on her shirt, and proceeds to finger herself while urinating in a can. The video also depicts a large number of stereotypically hipster-looking audience members and their enthusiastic response to the performance. Consequently, the video became popular for exemplifying the ridiculousness of hipster culture and for personifying the stereotypes of the culturally-imagined hipster phenomenon of the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Origin
The original performance took place on March 27th, 2010 at an apartment gallery event, FOREVER(21), in West Town, Chicago.[1] The event was organized by members of the Art Institute of Chicago's Multicultural Student Association.[2] Featuring works by several artists, the main fixture of the night was a performance by Natacha Stolz entitled "Interior Semiotics." A video of the performance was uploaded to YouTube on May 8th, 2010.
The Performance
The video begins with Stolz attempting to open a can of expired Spaghetti-Os with a manual can opener. It takes her two minutes to do so because she has trouble using the can opener. Once it is open, she pours the Spaghetti-Os, which she pre-mixed with dirt, into a pot and adds water, then recites a nihilistic-sounding poem:
"Everything is shit. We apply meaning, value, and worth to the shit surrounding us. We live by this meaning and by our words. We live by worth and apply value, but everything is shit."
Afterwards, she repeats the poem backwards, in monosyllabic form, while rubbing the Spaghetti-O and mud mixture onto her shirt. Stolz then cuts open her denim leggings, putting her Spaghetti-O-covered fingers into her vagina and expelling vaginal discharge.
As the camera turns away towards the audience, Stolz releases the Spaghetti-O mixture from her vagina, into the empty can of Spaghetti-Os on a platform. Finally, the camera turns towards her once more. She takes off her shirt with soiled hands, wipes up the mess, and exits the room. The audience subsequently cheer and applaud, with shouts of "We love you!" and the infamous "Yeah, ART!"
Spread
During the week of August 1st, 2010, the video was shared on 4chan. The performance elicited extreme responses, from general threats of violence against "hipsters" to specific threats against Stolz herself. That week, "Interior Semiotics" accumulated over 200,000 views in only 48 hours. By the second week of August 2010, the view count had reached nearly 350,000 views.
On August 4th, 2010, the video was posted on Buzzfeed[3], Hipster Runoff's Tumblr[4], and Reddit.[5] Later that week, it reached I Am Bored[6], Hipster Runoff's main site[7], and The Elitist.[8]
As the video spread, Stolz's personal information was leaked, including her Facebook[9] account, phone number, home address, university, and personal website.[10] Several 4chan users added her on Facebook and leaked dozens of her personal photos. Soon after, the video description was changed, replacing Stolz's real name with the pseudonym Gabbi Colette.[11] Stolz created a Facebook under this pseudonym to attract people who sought her out online, often trolling or interacting with them.
Stolz received recognition from her peers in the art community. In November 2010, Stolz was interviewed by the new media art organization Rhizome, who also interviewed author Cole Stryker about the cultural implications of "Interior Semiotics." Stryker wrote about the performance and its viral reaction in his 2011 book Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan's Army Conquered the Web.[12]
The performance was the subject of a lengthy essay by art critic Domenico Quaranta in ARTPULSE magazine, and was also the subject of articles in ArtSlant[13], The Globe and Mail[14], and MinnesotaPlaylist magazine[15].
As of February 2015, the video of the performance has over 2,168,000 views on YouTube.[16]
Reaction Videos
Due to the controversial content of the video, several users have uploaded reaction videos:
Reaction Faces
Search Interest
Search for both "Interior Semiotics" and both names Stolz went by peaked in August 2010 but have been declining since.
External References
[1] Facebook – Forever(21) Event Page
[2] Facebook – MSA Group Page
[3] Buzzfeed – "Hipster Expressionism" [NSFW] / 8-4-10
[4] Tumblr – Hipster Runoff / 8-5-10
[5] Reddit – In front of a crowd of hipsters… / 8-5-10
[6] I Am Bored – "Interior Semiotics: Dumb Hipsters And Their ‘Art’" / 8-6-2010
[7] Hipster Runoff – "Totally Alt Performance Artist squirts Spaghettios out of her vagina" / 8-5-2010
[8] The Elitist Magazine – "Meme’in: Natacha Stolz Performance Art" / 8-10-2010
[9] Facebook – Natacha Stolz
[10] Natacha Stolz – Personal website
[11] Facebook – Gabbi Colette
[12] Stryker Cole – Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan's Army Conquered the Web / Overlook Books, published 2011
[13] ArtSlant – Interior Semiotics by Joel Kuennen / 11-29-10
[14] The Globe and Mail – "Uh-oh, Spaghetti-Ho: a viral perfect storm" / 12-1-10
[15] MinnesotaPlaylist – "A dramatic introduction to performance art" / 12-12-10
[16] YouTube – Original video of the performance
