Arvida Byström explores the Internet as a machine for creating myths, wondering how new combinations of desire and a still little-known tool can generate beliefs.
At the beginning of the 20th century, before photography was considered a faithful representation of reality, two girls fooled the scientific community. Their photos of the Cottingley fairies were considered true perhaps because people wanted to preserve a romantic idea of the past compared to a modern and industrialized society, but also because of the novelty of the medium.
A century later, Arvida Byström explores the Internet as a machine for creating myths, wondering how new combinations of desire and an still little-known tool can generate beliefs. The myths considered true today are not seen as such and for this reason they are difficult to identify. A curious coincidence is that Cottagecore, a hashtag that defines the love for fairies and the rural life of the past, is gaining popularity online. In uncertain times, will humans always turn to fairy tales?
Arvida Byström (Sweden, 1991) is a digital native with an intrinsic relationship to pink. Exploring femininities and its complexities, often tied to online culture, she travels in an aesthetic universe of disobedient bodies, selfie sticks and fruits in lingerie. She is involved in many projects that reveal her real importance in today's feminist art scene, constantly crossing the line between activism and advertising. Her photography and endless Instagram scroll have been in art shows all over the world as she starred both behind and in front of the camera of numerous influential brands and magazines. Mainly known as a photographer and model, she is also involved in music projects. She is based between Los Angeles, London and Stockholm.
