This is Simon Senn, an artist who experiments with new technologies and investigates how they affect us. His digital conference 'Be Arielle F' premieres in Belgium at VIERNULVIER on 27 and 28 September. It revolves around Senn's online purchase of a digital replica of a woman's body, in which he ‘lived’ through virtual reality.

"It was a very moving experience. I shared with friends what was happening to me. I felt beautiful in that body: it struck me how well a woman's body suits me. But it also raised a lot of questions. Who is this woman? Can I do anything I want with this digital body? I immediately empathised with the person who lent her image to the digital copy, because it is frightening and shocking to realise that I could do this so easily without asking the 'real' person for permission. I talked to several lawyers about this: they told me that new technologies are evolving so rapidly that the law cannot keep up with their pace. So I decided to take my story to the stage and start a dialogue with the audience."

Senn also went in search of the woman who lent her body to the copy. To this day, he keeps in touch with 'Arielle'. Together they explore this digital body that stands between them.

"I would rather not speak for her and tell why she decided to have a digital copy made of her body. But Arielle herself will be present during the performance, so you can definitely ask her yourself during the show."

Because of 'Be Arielle F', Senn decided to visit a psychologist to talk about his feelings of gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identity (their personal sense of their own gender) and their sex assigned at birth.

"A good decision, because my psychologist encouraged me to experiment with gender fluidity."

'Be Arielle F' reveals the unexpected entanglements between technology, representation, gender and law. A relevant, interesting performance!