Bombshell, Boom! (2024) consists of a large video screen displaying a pair of female eyes that meet the viewer’s gaze. The eyes move, blink, and maintain eye contact. They appear both sensual and self-assured, making the viewer aware of their own role as the one who watches.

The work emerged from Maja Malou Lyse’s research in Politiken’s photo archive, where she investigated the history of Ekstra Bladet’s "Page 9 Girls". For nearly fifty years, these iconic images of young women reflected changing ideas about gender, sexuality, and desire. In 2022, a public debate arose when it was revealed that several of the models had been under the age of 18, raising questions about whether the photographs should be deleted or preserved as part of history.

The work does not merely address the question of censorship. It also speaks to broader themes of desire, feminism, women’s right to represent their own bodies, and their right to take part in history. Most notably, however, it engages with a history of objectification that took place within a major Danish tabloid over the course of half a century.

Rather than recreating or condemning the images, Lyse shifts attention to the gaze itself. The woman who was once observed and objectified now becomes the observer. In this way, Bombshell, Boom! is both a reflection on media history, feminism, and censorship – and an exploration of who holds the power to look and to be looked at.