Identity Fictions
In the Tumblr blog of there’s something, an article called: Identity Fictions
Mouchette.org is an interactive website created in 1996 by a pseudonymous character, an Amsterdam-based artist who calls herself “Mouchette”. With her innocent salutation and claims to be “nearly thirteen” greeting us from the introduction page, what initially appears as a personal website of a pre-pubescent female artist, evolves into darker themes in the subsequent pages.
Just like the film Mouchette, one of the many themes running throughout Mouchette.org is the idea of death. The recurring image of a fly is present on many of the pages. The word “mouchette” translates into English as “little fly”. The comparable lives between the Mouchettes – the fly and the girl – are intersected when it revolves around the death of the fly. On one page, Mouchette refers to herself as the fly and blames the web visitor for killing her when he/she pressed a button on the previous webpage. On another page, somber music plays as the phrase “Lullaby for a dead fly” is shown on the screen. As stated in Internet Art, “in early iterations of the site, the virtual persona Mouchette was obsessed with suicide”.One page asks the viewer on what they think the best way to kill yourself when you’re under 13. On a page entitled m.org.ue, an image of feet is shown, with one foot wearing a toe tag, while ghostly music plays. When a link called “meet my parent” is clicked, it directs to a page that has scanned images of meat, with the words “Papa” and “Maman” carved in it. On another page, an image of a cat violently shaking on the screen while sounds of screaming are playing, the viewer is asked to kill this cat.
“Sexually suggestive” themes are present throughout the site. One the opening page of the section named “***digital flesh&blood***” the background image is of a close up of a young girl’s face, sticking out her tongue. The text accompanying this image reads: “Want to know what my tongue tastes like? Try it on your screen and tell me.” Another page, titled “touché”, has a completely black background, with tiny white words scattered in different sections of the page. As the pointer scrolls over specific points on the page, sounds of a woman gasping are activated. Many pages of this website has interactive web forms that include multiple-choice questions asking your email address. Days or weeks later the viewer might get unexpected flirtatious email messages from Mouchette.