from The 21st Century Web Review (issue 06/2000), used with kind permission

It's 9.00am and we're sitting in a New York coffee shop waiting for one of the hippest artists of the recently emerged Neo-Millenialists movement, and it would be an understatement to say we're excited. Indeed, we are the first ever to have a live meeting with the young lady the world knows as Fedora Hat (her real name being carefully kept out of the limelight), who usually prefers the Web to express herself. After all, the Web is what it is all about, as she rightly says. But the unfortunate accident which left her with a broken arm only 3 weeks ago obviously makes it unnecessarily difficult for her to type, so she agreed to meet us in the flesh.

When she finally rushes in, we are disconcerted - here's a lively young woman with long flowing hair. Nothing gloomy or freaky about her. No pictures, no descriptions was her only condition upon agreeing to meet up. So let us limit ourselves to saying that she is tall... and quite stunning. She greets us with a humorous "God what a hot day. Can't believe it's summer already", sits down and orders a cup of tea. "You don't shed your English roots so easily", she says laughingly. "So let's start right away, shall we?" We shall.

Your latest work 'Life & Death' has perplexed much of the Online Art world. What exactly is behind this installation?
When I started working on this Life & Death project, my main aim was to create a very compact and unelaborate statement on our modern life. I wanted to embrace the whole of our existence. I spent quite some time pondering over it. It is so much easier to explain something in 500 words than in 10. So compactness was definitely the most important point for me. The result was that most critics found themselves at a loss before these concentrated comments squeezed into just 2 images.

It is rather different from any of your previous works.
That is true. It has been suggested that I have been trying to make a new start after losing myself more and more in very complex works. I guess it's a bit early to draw any such conclusions - I don't know where I am going myself. But I do know that I enjoyed working on Life & Death. So who knows what's up next?

Do put us out of our misery then. What DOES it all mean?
Well it obviously depends much on what you put into it. My intention is to leave my works very much open to interpretation. I want to allow every user to put as much of himself into them as he wishes.
But (laughing) I do read in your faces that you'd rather have more guidance, right? I think the first image requires less explanations...

... such is the general opinion...
... but I shall say a couple of words about it nonetheless. I've had this picture in my mind for a long time, I think a mourning bereaved at a grave is such a moving image... there is so much in that. Graves, epitaphs, inscriptions, often tell gripping stories, and I have thematized these before as you certainly know. Here, it is definitely a simplification, for there are no details of the deceased person's life, or their relation to the person standing near, but it is no less moving in its simplicity.
Life then... it is intriguing, isn't it? It's meant to be. It is of course about the creation of all life, that is the sexual act. (laughing) I do sound awfully stiff, don't I? I mean bonking, shagging (British slang term, ed.), screwing, fucking, whatever you wanna call it. I admit it is kind of hard to make out that there are actually 2 people on top of each other. But you can make it out if you really try.
The phallic symbol on the left seems to have disturbed the most. No-one seems to get it - you're all not sex-obsessed enough (giggling). I hoped it would make it clearer what is going on in the scene. Not much more behind it. Obviously the fact that it is the tree of the first scene is meant to link it all together. The main purpose of the candles on the other hand is to provide some contrast with the Death image. And they're pretty. I like their effect on the simple webcam picture.

Why Death first?
First off, quite simply, I want to shock people - you know I do. You can't get anybody's attention with sex these days anymore - but you can with death. It's still very much a taboo in our society - I guess it's a fear we will never rid ourselves of. In fact, I wonder if it's not getting stronger, because the Old Reaper is much less present in our lives than he was 100 years ago.

You mean we are less used to him being around?
That's exactly what I mean. Death was ever present around mankind, and you just, well, lived with it. Today, they promise us we'll live longer, or even forever. Consequently, every loss is a tragedy - and it's natural that it should be, but maybe we should try to accept Death as a part of life instead of doing everything to shut him out. Maybe that is why I focus so much on Death.

That is a rather fundamental problem of our society.
Indeed it is. It means a lot to me. But back to your earlier question. The other reason I put Death first is also related to what I just said, but touches it from a different angle. I want to show the cyclic nature of the whole process. Death is not the end - after death comes birth, and so on. It could go on forever, which is why a link leads back to the first picture from the bottom. Death as the beginning of a new life...

Which brings us to religion...
It does I guess, but that's not my focus on it. I am not religious myself, but I acknowledge religion as an inherent part of our society. Which is why it creeps up a lot in my work - it's certainly present in the Life image too. But I don't see this life-death cycle in the strictly spiritual sense. It's just the course of things - after all, we are just animals and our only purpose of existence is to perpetuate our kind.

That's not really an idea compatible with...
... my art and my medium? Of course not, but who says I am not allowed to contradict myself? Or be ambiguous, if you prefer a less radical term (smiling).

The tools you used for Life & Death were quite unusual for you.
Yes, true. After working a lot with sophisticated digital cameras, filters, image editing programs and the like, it was a bit like going back to the roots. I just used a simple webcam - the reduced quality of the image has its charm - and only added a black border later. Simplicity is the word. It was a lot of fun, really. Very different.

Not really something new in your work that would need an explanation, but let's mention it nonetheless. You use mobile phones in the images...
... again, yes. I've done it before and I am likely to do it again. You know animism is an old fetish of mine. Funnily enough, that seems to disturb people much more than my constant focus on Death for instance. But isn't it natural to animate the things we spend so much of our time working with? Who hasn't talked to their car when it wouldn't start on a cold winter morning? I'm just taking it all a bit further. And maybe just maybe I am insinuating that eventually we will be subdued by the objects around us. But that would be more unconscious than anything else, as I don't believe that is going to happen.

Not a lot at all is known about your personal life...
... and I certainly want to keep it that way. Isn't that what's most interesting about the Net? You can hold on to your anonimity, create many different avatars. You can get away with anything, and people regard it as normal, because this is a world with different rules. Although I am not ashamed of what I do in my 'real life', I choose to keep it from the public eye.

So the Internet... our readers won't forgive us if we don't ask for some general wisdom on 'our' medium. As a tool for artists?
Oh, most exciting! Sometimes I wonder what I would've done as an artist if I hadn't had the Net to immerse myself in. Photography maybe... but this is so much better. I love the immediacy of works of art on the Net. The direct contact with the viewer, the personal input everyone can have. The constant evolution of online works of art. It's just amazing.

In the long run... how much is the Net gonna change our social lives?
Gosh, that is really hard to tell. Will we end up glued to our chairs staring at our monitors? I don't think so to be honest. It's against human nature to interact ONLY through a machine, and I can't see that happening, although pessimists everywhere love to predict such a future for mankind. We need physical closeness, and no cybersex glove or whatever can make up for a good old cuddle, and no webcam for a deep look into someone's eyes.
It will certainly change relationships between people, it does already, but it won't dictate them I don't think. Personally, it enables me to stay in touch with many of my friends dispersed around the globe, without running up huge telephone bills. Plus it has put me in touch with many people I wouldn't have met otherwise, and who have grown very, very dear to me. Friendships that have immeasurably enriched my life. But in the end I find you meet up with those people anyway... and run up huge telephone bills (laughs).
Generally, I find that most people use the Web in the same way. Of course there are people who use it as a substitute for an otherwise non-existent social life, but I believe these are the minority. The exciting thing about the Web is that whatever weird hobby or obsession you have, you will always find someone who shares it. Of course that also bears some risks.

So tell us: are you always honest when you meet new people online?
Hmmm... well don't you put on a show when you meet someone in a pub, too? Okay, I admit it, I am not always completely honest at first. Most of the time I am though. And in the long run it's no use lying about yourself. What do you get from being appreciated for what you are not? Be yourself, is what say (looking very earnest).

Before we let you off... any idea what we can expect from you in the future?
Well right now I am working on a new project, which is again radically different from most of the stuff I've done so far. You can catch a first glimpse of it on my provisional page. You will see that my obsession with death has got the better of me again (laughs). So that should keep me occupied for a while. After that... who knows? Maybe I'll decide to become a lyricist? Or start a porn webcam? (mischievous grin) There is so much to be discovered and to be done.

Fedora, we would like to thank you very much for this interview.
It's been a pleasure. A real pleasure. Do you mind if I steal your sugar?

And the user was away...