I want to unzip myself and tuck you inside

Name(s) of graduate(s):

Zoe Spehr

2025

Universität der Künste Berlin

Visuelle Kommunikation

Bachelor of Arts

Webseite

Description

What happens when cuteness reverses roles? The cute object is no longer passive but acts, looks, and desires. It finds us cute, wants to hug, squeeze, and absorb us. Enlarged and dominant, it speaks to us, pulls us into its body. Being swallowed becomes a hypercuddle: love and control entwined. Boundaries dissolve as tenderness turns invasive. The cute devours us, enacting the violent affection we usually project onto it. “You’re so cute I could just eat you up!” as violent tenderness. A hug that goes too far.