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USHI


The horse girl universe is characterised through brightness, pink tones and girlishness. At its core lies a fascination with horses. This phenomenon drives a huge, thriving industry, which is relying on the dreams and emotional experiences of mainly young girls, shaping their lives through equine themed products. Part of those commodities are horse themed magazines, often written from a young girls perspective, portraying and feeding in the dreams of their audience. Nevertheless, first real life confrontations with the animals themselves, happen at riding schools through the school horses, which are specifically trained to offer a safer learning environment. Making the school horse the central figure in pulling the horse girl dream into reality.

 

In contradiction, the colours associated with the horse girls realm remain hidden to the horses, since their perception is limited to blue, yellow and grey tones. In “USHI” the discrepancy between the school horse and horse girl universe is highlighted, by using the commonly known commodity of a magazine. Young horse girls are given an insight into the riding school reality, the animals job, schedule and surroundings through the perspective of the protagonist, the school horse “Ushi”. The magazine acts as a gentle educational and reflective tool, providing information through the horse’s perspective to horse enthusiasts. To further emphasise the gap between dreamworld and equine reality, the magazine comes with an extra: a horse stable perfume, bringing the scent of the horses homes, into the horse girls homes. 

Date
2024

Type
photography
research
information design

Video footage from horses POV.