Lipstrike is a contraction of "lipstick" and "Counter Strike", and means to strike/ attack/ dismantle/ encounter/ ignite/ play with the lips. Created in response to the GamerGate controversy and addressing sexism in video games, Lipstrike is a live performance streamed on the TWITCH platform, during which a performer uses a lipstick connected to the computer as a controller to play Counter-Strike. Used during the game, contact between skin and lipstick is akin to pulling the trigger.
Lipstrike
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Inspired by the Velvet-Strike performances and the 0100101110101101.org collective, Lipstrike is part of a committed artistic approach. It takes place both on the gaming platform and in physical form, made visible by a stream.
The difficulty of not being able to jump or move sideways, as well as the latency in shooting due to the movement of the lipstick, make the game experience more complex and performative. The initial goal was to appropriate a virtual space often dominated by masculinist communities, challenging their exclusive occupation of these spaces.
The performance deconstructs the stereotype of the "gamer girl" by juxtaposing it with the image of the "Femme fatale", thus seeking to question and deactivate these macho fictions of images of women put through the steamroller of male gaze.
On the occasion of the virtual exhibition Vral - Milan Machinima's festival, the performance video was enhanced with GIFs of queer video game characters, offering narrative revenge to these figures often marginalized in the industry.
As a video game curator, the artist highlights the normative biases present in video games, notably the basic "neutral" character often a white male, revealing patriarchal and colonial structures in the industry. She also criticizes the simplistic representation of conflict in FPSs such as Counter-Strike, which perpetuate stereotypes and stereotypical visions. Although this critique is not explicitly present in the video, the artist takes a stand for intersectional, trans and decolonial feminism, highlighting the diversity of feminist movements and their fight against sexism, racism and LGBTQphobia in the video game industry.
Video format: The work is presented in video format, accompanied by a booklet containing several comments collected following publication of the video and various articles.
Performance + discussion format: The work can also be presented as a live performance. In this case, the performance takes place both online, republished on the Twitch platform, and in-game, with the artist performing with the alternative controller. The game is also projected live.
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