Malicious Compliance - Empress Trash

"When given the theme of digital disobedience, the first concept I thought of was Malicious Compliance - to adhere to rules so exacting specifically knowing it is not in the best interest of the system that created the rule in the first place. In very oppressive systems, especially Nazi Germany + Soviet Russia but not exclusive to, to rebel overtly can cost one their life, so a common way to disrupt and even save people is to practice malicious compliance. This practice can help protect victims, slow down bureaucratic processes, inconvenience those in power and take up valuable time and resources. It also can be done as feigned incompetence or ignorance - ""accidentally"" breaking vital systems or critical tools. In this piece, I thought about specifically WWII era aesthetics of a pinup model combined with modern surveillance equipment. The energy all around her is glitchy af - because at the core malicious compliance is a disruptive glitch in the rules set by oppressive systems to resist the system. Ultimately, while creating the work I was opening up and exploring the question ""What can malicious compliance possibly look like in the age of mass surveillance?" Artwork by https://twitter.com/EmpressTrash