Mouchette (1996) by Amsterdam-based artist Martine Neddam, focusing on the ethical and aesthetic aspects as well as the preservation and documentation of identity.

Mouchette set up her first home page in 1996 and has maintained a constantly expanding web presence ever since.


A fictional adolescent girl, fascinated by suicide and strangers, Mouchette is the long-running work of Amsterdam-based artist Martine Neddam. Her labyrinthine, ever-growing site makes use of expressive HTML elements to involve the viewer in the turbulent emotional world of an adolescent girl. Participation is central, and visitors are encouraged to talk about suicide, contribute fan art, and even adopt Mouchette's identity.

As a character who doubles as a platform for exchange, Mouchette has for two decades provoked her visitors into contributing in their own ways to a site that now stands as a singular and important archive of online culture—humorous, dark, and often surprisingly touching.