ANIKA MEIER | TALE AS OLD AS TIME

"I love TALE AS OLD AS TIME because it is a cross between 1960s horror-film / camp and Edvard Munch‘s sober message."
– Claudia Hart, Artist

"I wish I could tell the girls in these works that it’ll all be okay, but I don’t want to lie to them."
– Kevin Abosch, Artist

"A tale of mirrors—technology as an unflinching reflection of human fears, flaws, and dreams—in which what we see tells as much as what we don't, can't, or won't."
– Sasha Stiles, Artist

"TALE AS OLD AS TIME is a necessary exploration of the hidden horrors of girlhood, where loveliness provides false security. Anika has brought forth the unheimlich, adding a hint of humor, a pinch of play, and a dose of damaged desire."
– Ana Maria Caballero, Artist

"The nostalgia of girlhood collides with the grotesque horror of The Scream. The viewer, as voyeur, transgresses upon these intimate moments of rage, of shame, of frustration. Her nubile body is stiffening; she’s screaming in the corner, but nobody is listening. Instead, we just watch... washing away any worries in the warm, sunny patina of vintage Americana. Things are so different now. We say, 'Let them eat cake.' We say, 'Girls will be girls.' We say…"
– Natalie Stone, GM of CryptoPunks

"Like a punch in the face, Anika has combined 1960s pulp fiction illustration with the panic of the Derridean secret self. A series of AI-mediated cognitive shocks from the depths of western collective memory. Madness in the female image."
– James Bloom (Crashblossom), Artist

"There is so much insidious horror in girlhood. TALE AS OLD AS TIME captures this beautifully in a way that is both absurd and completely accurate. It’s the same feeling that keeps me too scared to open the diaries from my youth."
– Margaret Murphy, Artist

"There is something profoundly familiar and, at the same time, uncanny in the series TALE AS OLD AS TIME. We are confronted with the cliche image of the terrified girl; we can almost hear the scream coming from all the horror movies we grew up watching. But the multiple reflections that echo the horror in different ways point to a primal, diffuse sense of despair, not linked to a specific source. We ask ourselves: Is that the image of the fear of oneself? Fear of the condition of being a woman? Fear of growing up? Or the image of more pure horror?"
– Kika Nicolela, Artist and Curator, objkt.com

"The mirror, the girl, the scream... reflections, future, pain... knowledge, time, eternity..."
– Susanne Päch, Foundation Herbert W. Franke

"With TALE AS OLD AS TIME, Anika’s recontextualization of vintage horror aesthetics to interrogate our preconceived notions of hysteria and identity is instantly impactful. These solitary screams by young women point to an internal frustration with the world and a truly horrifying, all-encompassing oppression."
– Mark Sabb, Artist, Felt Zine