Art by Britney Knoepp

Abstract

Artist's statement "Simulation is the collapse of the real with the imaginary, the true with the false. Simulation does not provide equivalents for the real, nor does it reproduce it, it re-duplicates and generates it. Everything about her was at once vigorous and exquisite, at once strong and fine. I had a confused sense that she must have cost a great deal to make, that a great many dull and ugly people must, in some mysterious way, have been sacrificed to produce her. I was aware that the qualities distinguishing her from the herd of her sex were chiefly external, as though a fine glaze of beauty and fastidiousness had been applied to vulgar clay. An intact hymen is a sound business decision; the business plan is adoration of a star. In exchange for one vestigial flap of tissue, she could finance efforts to feed the hungry, comfort the sick, build schools, roads, hospitals, and donate to medical research. Imagine the good work you could do with that kind of money to distribute. Just imagine." Britney Knoepp, February 2004.