mp4/pdf polyglot. a pile of female bodies silently drifting as viewed by society. rename the .mp4 to .pdf to reveal iwamoto's striking testimony.
a single digital object with two identities. open it as an mp4, and you'll encounter a slow procession of entwined female bodies, their serene contours softened by half-light. this visual, created by male collaborators, mirrors the "canonical" societal lens: beauty, distance, silence.
yet these same bytes also exist as a pdf. change nothing but the file extension, and a stark text by kalen iwamoto, born of personal experience and shared by countless women, fills the screen. the frame becomes page.
discovery is triggered by a simple, almost clerical gesture — renaming a file — showcasing how little effort is needed to uncover truths we often overlook.
the work's essence lies not in the video or the document, but in the hinge that binds them. yp11.31 is a metaphor for social perception: systemic violence persists "in plain sight" present in every frame of life yet unseen until one chooses to look differently.
by embedding narrative truth within technical camouflage, yp11.31 critiques habitual spectatorship and invites responsibility. how many other silences await a one-click shift of attention?