Having been a part of the live streaming community for three years now, I have developed a complicated relationship with the medium. Like many other women in the streaming space, I have endured instances of sexism and objectification, struggling to navigate the intricacies of presenting my femininity in a space where success is so intertwined with appearance and persona. However, despite facing all these challenges, I still continue to stream regularly to this day. WATCH ME is an interactive installation piece that explores my identity as a female live streamer. Beyond the familiar notions of surveillance and objectification, this project dissects live streaming as a form of empowerment, freedom, and performance. Using an eye tracker to trigger my stream clips to play, I am reclaiming autonomy by knowing when and where my audience is looking through this system that I have built. In addition to exploring the elements of gaze and perspective, this project simply showcases the quantity of my stream clips to demonstrate my love for streaming and performing. What makes live streaming such a unique form of content creation is the ability for the streamer to interact with the audience in real time. For me, this dynamic is empowering, as it transcends the one-sided nature of being observed and objectified. Live streaming allows me to actively invite and control the gaze, fostering a reciprocal relationship with my audience. These real-time interactions not only build communities that exceed geographical and social boundaries, but also allow for marginalized genders and identities to cultivate their own safe space in the digital realm.
