Paula Kenny: Your project “The life and Death of Elle Peril” how did the idea come about? What was the background?

Lena Chen: It’s a bit strange because I would say Elle Peril did not begin explicitly as a different identity. When I was in America I was working on a number of feminist projects, doing activism and writing about sexuality. I got a lot of criticism for it and I was also being stalked on the internet very persistently. It all weighed very heavily on my psyche and I felt I needed a break from this work. I have been approached over the years to write a book about my experiences, as someone who had written about her sex life and had encountered some extreme reactions to this work. Originally, I had such anxiety over social judgement and the ramifications for my friends and family (who were also being stalked by someone online) that I developed writer’s block.

This was compounded by general social anxiety, depression, paranoia, and an inability to engage with people. This was a reaction to the trauma of being stalked and I couldn’t be creative, I didn’t feel safe mentally or physically so long as there was someone obsessed with ruining my reputation. I had this idea: what if I assume another name to allow myself the freedom to do things Lena Chen would be punished for, so Elle Peril became a kind of protagonist for my memoirs. It was a way for me to say fuck you to my stalker and address the trauma by being a nude model and still be able to express myself creatively and own my body, explore an identity beyond the one I felt stuck in.

P.K.: There is juxtaposition between experiencing anxiety/depression and then being a nude model, do you think creating Elle Peril helped you become a more confident persona?

L.C.: It created a structure in which I could interact with men again. Strangely enough, it made me feel a lot safer than having these free interactions with strangers in the wild. If someone approached me at a bar, if I were in a social situation alone with a guy, I would get extremely nervous to the point where I would avoid these situations. So even though nude modelling meant taking off my clothes for strangers, there was a certain protocol to follow. Photographers are not meant to hit on the model, which allows me to relax. Of course, sometimes it does happen and my boundaries are disrespected but 90% of the time it’s professional, I go there, do what I have to, which is to model, and then I leave. I don’t have an obligation to stay in touch with these people or answer their messages and the interaction can end at this point if I wish. The context is clear and I have a short term interaction where I practice relating to men again.

Also, I was compensated for my time, I was respected for what I was doing, I was happy with most of the photos and assisting in someone else’s creative process was really empowering. After having photos of me published online without my consent I was able to use my body as a tool to help people create.

P.K.: How did moving to Berlin help you to become the persona of Elle Peril?

L.C.:It was all the same process, I needed to create psychological distance from the trauma, which was the purpose of Elle Peril, but I also had to create physical distance. I didn’t know anyone when I came to Berlin, I had no friends, and so I was freer to create who I wanted to be. But it did cause conflict in my personal life, I moved here with a partner of many years and he knew me as Lena, so now I was changing, people knew me by different names and we had a lot shared trauma, so I think it was difficult for him to cope, especially as I became psychologically confused between the two lives. I found it difficult also to explain to people back in the States what I was doing.

P.K.: Do Lena and Elle ever intertwine into your everyday life?

L.C.: It took a year and a half before I had close relationships in Berlin. Everyone knew me as Elle, but I held back a lot from people until much later. I used to be a very open person but because of what happened to me, if someone took interest or became inquisitive about my life, I would feel quite paranoid. I found myself, for the most part, using different techniques to seem like I was revealing myself without actually doing so. For example, nude modelling requires a certain amount of bodily vulnerability, but is not the same as openly sharing my experiences with revenge porn, which I generally hid from people. I found it challenging to meet photographers for repeated shoots or develop relationships outside the setting of a photo shoot.

It was easier with women than with men. When I came to Berlin in 2013, I realised I hadn’t made a new male friend in 5 years, I had male friends from the past but no new ones. The first photographer I worked with in Berlin was named Sasha. We meet two months after I arrived and shot together. It was a year later when we started hanging out. He was the first friend I made and that relationship was step one, I learnt through that interaction to trust men again. You can’t have relationships exclusively within the context of a photo shoot, you have to be able to do normal things with your friend and not worry that he’s going to hit on you or do something to disrespect you, which was a huge pyschological hurdle for me that took some time to overcome.

In the past year, I have really tried integrating Elle and Lena. It is easier to explain to my friend’s in Berlin who Lena was, then explain to my friend’s in America who Elle is. Here I have a blank slate. I can change my name, but my past is what informs my actions today. On one hand, being Elle really freed me to do things I couldn’t do as Lena, but at my core, I am the same person. As a part of my show, I conducted a survey asking people how they know me, how they see me and with the words they chose, I saw no difference between Elle and Lena anymore. A few years ago, there was so much I associated with Lena that I wanted to erase. Now, I don’t mind if people call me Elle or Lena.

P.K.: The show’s name “The life and Death of Elle Peril” sounds like your killing off this persona. Is that the purpose?

L.C.: The original purpose of Elle is fulfilled at this point. Of course, I still get triggered sometimes but I am more able to function as an individual now, I have healed a lot of my trauma. In that sense, I don’t need Elle the character to hide behind anymore. Before I felt comfortable enough to openly saying, “I’m Lena Chen”, I very much hid behind Elle using her as a mask. The closing of my show was a funeral performance to Elle, where people read eulogies. This is a death because this character had a purpose that is no longer necessary because I feel safe again. But I won’t make people call me by a different name or anything. Practically speaking my friends can call me whatever they want.

P.K.: So what is next for you?

L.C.: I would like to meet other survivors of revenge porn documenting their stories and taking nude portraits of them. I am currently organising a festival and symposium on art and research related to menstruation. This is happening hopefully within a year, I am securing interest and people who want to get on board right now. I am also hoping to collaborate with several friends to do an exhibition in America and Europe, as street art as a tool for social engagement.

Can you heal the trauma of revenge porn by deliberately becoming a nude art model? Lena Chen, one of the first known women to have private nude photos of her nonconsensually shared across the internet, moved to Berlin and tried it. What she learned along the way may surprise you.

Hit play:

http://archive.is/5yDB0

The Life and Death of Elle Peril

http://archive.is/fZfIW

http://i.imgur.com/00o6Eu6.jpg

link to Encyclopedia Dramatica page

By 2011, most ho's had the good sense to steer clear of Lena's bukkakeblog...and then you had dumb turdskin skanks like Anjanie Chand (Florida Atlantic University) who stupidly asked the blog if she should shove a new IUD up her twat: "I've been considering the Paraguard IUD because when I was on birth control, the hormones made me really depressed, and my gyno said they were the lowest hormone dose available. So hormone free sounds great! I saw that you use an IUD. Sorry if this is too personal, but does your bf come inside you? My fuckbuddy Brian Rapko (University of Central Florida) is freaked out about not having to use a condom, and he pulls out anyways, but I was wondering if it is okay if he doesn't?" BTW, Has mommy Lutchmie Chand learned of how SKANKY her STDiseased daughter is yet? Has brother Rajesh Chand had the good sense to HONORKILL fuckslut Anjanie Chand yet?

HealHerProject

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3331084&forum_id=2#31481742)

https://www.facebook.com/EllePeril/

https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Elle_Peril_Berlin

looks like she's gotten bloated again

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKnZdJqg25H/

2016

After whining about being a "victim" of "revenge porn" for several years, Lena Chen is now doing porn under the stage name Elle Peril

http://elleperil.com

Lena Chen is a writer and visual artist based in Berlin. She is working on Book of Shadows, a collection of poetry, prose and imagery about time travel and dreams.

Ask Lena Chen a Question: http://elleperil.com/ask

Email Lena Chen: theberlinexperiment@gmail.com

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3331084&forum_id=2#31481686)

Harvard Asian slut to be the next Kaavya

http://www.xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=569172&forum_id=2

Lena Chen and the Case of the Naughty Nudie Pics

http://www.xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=735470&forum_id=2

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3331084&forum_id=2#31481722)

whitey will never learn

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3331084&forum_id=2#35121431)

https://player.vimeo.com/video/218431121

https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Patrick_Hamm_and_Lena_Chen

https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/HealHerProject

https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Elle_Peril_model

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3331084&forum_id=2#36397467)