Victoria Welby

Victoria Welby is an avatar born in a virtual dating website. Because her creator did not want a numbered nickname, she picked an English semiotician's name, necessarily unknown to people found on such websites. 

Welby's first public appearance happened in May 2006 with two literary projects using the blog as a publishing platform. Because she did not want to associate her real name to those projects, Victoria's creator decided to use the semiotician's name again. All her literary projects, whether electronic or on paper, are now signed with that name. She did write one or two things under her real name, but she now presents them as works published under a pen name. 

Those projects produce different portraits of Welby. One, for example, depicts her as a cynical and sarcastic feminist, while the other represents her as a woman fond of sex, erotica and pornography. Her portrait is also determined by the existence of her English homonym and her creator, with whom she shares some traits and not others. 

Victoria Welby is a virtual character in continuous construction who can be defined only by accepting the law of excluded middle. Otherwise, schizophrenia is the only option.

(Source: 2008 ELO Media Arts show)