Sex sells, but a lack of sex can kill. There are currently four mass murders attributed to ‘incels’, or ‘involuntary celibates’, an online subculture of virulently angry men whose inability to find girlfriends fills their lives with hateful resentment of women. Guys who think that women actually owe them sex. It’s the radicalisation and politicisation of not getting any. It’s shocking, terrifying, depressing. And it’s the inspiration for English artist Ed Fornieles’ latest work.
‘Cel’ is a role-playing game designed by the artist. Filmed on chest cams and CCTV, a group of people lived in a house for two days, performing hierarchical roles, split into tiers of dominance and submission. Their treatment of each other becomes increasingly demeaning: participants are forcibly shaved, punched, pissed on and screamed at. They reorganise according to shows of strength or social dominance. Eventually, as the aggression peaks and the testosterone erupts into brutality, things calm down, participants realise where their anger is stemming from. They’re the products of uncaring society or of parental negligence or abuse: their anger and hatred has a root cause.
It’s halfway between something like the Stanford Prison Experiment and a particularly nasty episode of ‘Big Brother’. Everything’s grainy, rough, filthy – a technological aesthetic that echoes YouTube reels of street fights and urban violence.
The work is a little long, and the urge to come to a conclusion within the video about why incel culture happens feels a little over-egged. Fornieles doesn't need to fix the issue, just highlight it. But you do walk away deeply aware that male anger and aggression exist, and that's not a situation that's going to change, but it can – and should – be confronted.
@eddyfrankel
