Crush – The Box Girl
The Projection of a Perfect Life into a Cardboard Box
(This is an independent artistic work and a free interpretation of contemporary narratives.)
A body, a face, a digital icon—projected into a small, makeshift world of cardboard, plastic, and light. *Crush – The Box Girl* transforms Kylie Jenner, one of the most visible and desired figures in the social media sphere, into a fleeting apparition, trapped within the confines of a cardboard box.
“Crush”— a word that signifies both admiration and destruction. This duality is central to the work: Is Kylie the unattainable dream figure that millions idolize? Or does the pristine surface crack under the weight of its raw, makeshift surroundings?
The Cardboard Box as a Stage for Projection
The choice of a cardboard box is deliberate. It symbolizes the temporary, the disposable, and the overlooked—things often pushed to the margins of society. The opulent, hyper-stylized world of the elite is not enshrined in marble or gold here, but instead projected onto a throwaway material. This stark contrast creates a surreal juxtaposition of VIP aesthetics and everyday reality.
The Box Girl – A Life of Light and Shadow
Kylie Jenner’s projected image hovers between presence and absence—she is there, yet intangible, existing only as light and illusion. The *Box Girl* is trapped in a world that is not real, much like influencer icons whose digital personas eclipse their true selves.
The interplay of light and shadow intensifies this effect: her form seems to merge with the objects in the installation, yet remains nothing more than a façade. The moment the projector is turned off, she vanishes—along with the entire construction of a perfect life.
Plastic Bags and Scissors – Beauty at What Cost?
Black plastic bags stand in stark contrast to the luminous perfection of the projection. They symbolize waste, concealment, perhaps even the hidden side of glamour—the discarded reality behind the polished image. A pair of scissors pierces through the bags, an almost surgical gesture: a reference to plastic surgery, the relentless sculpting of bodies to fit idealized standards. But it is also an act of destruction—hinting at how quickly the illusion of perfection can collapse.Crush – Who Admires Whom?
*Crush* is more than youthful infatuation with an unattainable beauty. It is an exploration of power dynamics. Who holds control here? Those who gaze upon Kylie Jenner, seeking to emulate her lifestyle? Or is she herself trapped within an expectation she can never escape?
By placing Kylie within a cardboard box, she is no longer an untouchable deity—she becomes the *Box Girl*, a fragile apparition that exists only in light and disappears in darkness.
What remains of a digital idol when the projector turns off?
Künstlerische Integrität & Interpretation
Diese Arbeit ist ein eigenständiges künstlerisches Werk und eine freie Interpretation zeitgenössischer Bildwelten und gesellschaftlicher Entwicklungen. Sie bewegt sich im Rahmen der künstlerischen Freiheit, indem sie visuelle Inhalte aus ihrem ursprünglichen Kontext löst und in eine neue visuelle und konzeptuelle Erzählung überträgt. Sie ist keine direkte Kommentierung einer bestimmten Person, sondern nutzt Massenmedien und deren Ikonen als Mittel zur Reflexion über gesellschaftliche Strukturen und das Zusammenspiel von digitalem Einfluss und Realität.
This work is an independent artistic creation that reinterprets and transforms an existing digital image through projection and spatial installation. By taking an image directly from Elon Musk’s Instagram account and projecting it into a miniature diorama, the original content is placed into a new physical and narrative environment, where it is recontextualized and staged differently before being rephotographed. Through this process, the image loses its original digital framework and becomes part of a larger artistic discourse on power, media influence, and constructed realities. The projection technique not only alters the image’s scale and materiality, but also shifts its meaning, questioning how visual culture shapes perception.