Looking for a hyper realistic sex doll. Humans have an inferiority complex, according to artist and curator Arvida Byström, and it may be justified. Our landscapes are being manufactured, our social and work lives are being gradually digitised, and sex can be enticed via apps on robot-built phones. "In many fields, machines outperform humans," says Byström. "They are better at chess and math than we are, and they can compose beautiful classical music and create beautiful imagery." The Doll's House, a new exhibition by the Stockholm-born artist, photographs and films Byström alongside Harmony, a silicone sex doll, and explores their strange sense of synonymy fostered by the digitisation of identity. A series of live performances will also allow audience members to ask questions of the AI robot sex doll. Though sometimes headless, the figure is spray-tanned and has dyed hair to resemble Byström, creating an eerie, at times threatening effect. more information: huge tits sex doll

A Doll's Residence

The self-taught photographer, now 30, spent her adolescent years curating found media mixed with her own self-portraits on a Tumblr blog. Perverse encounters are unavoidable in public forums like these; some users' brazen commentary knows no bounds behind the shield of a screen - anonymous or otherwise. "However, I believe that a lot of semi-naked selfie-taking online today is very homosocial - a way for women to bond with other women," says Byström, who includes selfies in her artistic oeuvre and identifies as queer. "I don't mind if people find my photos attractive, but I don't want them to share their sexual fantasies with me on photos of my body." But Byström isn't attached to the jpeg; instead, she compares selfies to 'copies' of oneself, akin to statues, paintings, and dolls like Harmony.

While Gen-reliance Z's on retouching apps like Facetune demonstrates their desire to be more beautiful, the resulting comparisons between the "copy" and the self are damaging to the ego. "There are some parts of this that are frustrating and sad, and sometimes devastating when trying to meet the perfection that machines and technology create," she adds, "but it is also interesting to see this as a humbling experience." A generation digitally eclipsed by artificial creations of themselves, created by themselves, speaks to Byström of humanity's flawed sense of superiority. "The myth of Pygmalion still feels very relevant today, which I believe demonstrates that we have always had a complicated relationship with the portrayal of humans." We are afraid of them becoming more beautiful and perfect."

A Playhouse

Arvida Byström's photography for A Doll's House

Byström recreates Michelangelo's famous Pietà in one of the images on display. The sex doll is Jesus after his crucifixion, and the artist is the Virgin Mary, cradling the inanimate doll. "I wanted to play with the idea of who is helping who in the man-machine relationship." I also like the idea that humans were created in the image of God, and that now humans are playing god by creating machines that look and act like us." Her own admittedly "girly" style, in minimal pink and brown lingerie, persists throughout the series and film, and feels familiar in its bubblegum E-girl fashion, while commentary on a digital generation makes up a sizable portion of the artist's body of work. Disembodied Daughter, her 2018 short film, examined the seemingly soothing and caring feminine vocal tones of iPhone's Siri and its existence in reality, while in her still lives she captures fruits and phones wearing sheer and frilly underwear.

Byström's primary medium is now Instagram, and despite the platform's censorship guidelines, using her body as an expression of identity and sexuality remains central to her practise. "We sext each other. We send naked people. I believe we will always enjoy digital more when it enhances rather than replaces something in our lives." The idea of enhancement is often a concluding point to the man-versus-machine debate, oscillating between fear and function; by recognising technology's impossible standards, we work side-by-side with it to better humanity, rather than letting it replace us. "What if our creations outperform us?" And they have in many ways. The truth is that humans are mediocre, which is a relief. What if we stopped trying to be better because it's a game we'll always lose?"