Arguably it is the combination of a desire to be recognised by others and the mesmerising effect of our reflection, all of which ultimately affects the framing within the visual codes of the selfie.
Yet the mere limitation of field-of-view does not explain away the overwhelming preference for creating close-ups of the face.Īs Joonas suggested, more is indeed happening at the site of the #selfie face. Regarding Joonas’ discussion of selfie close ups, formally speaking, the consistent presence of the face in the selfie can be attributed to the mechanical limitation of the camera’s focal distance (approximately an arm’s length). The work is not merely in the cameras, nor is it merely in the images posted to twitter, but in the way co-presence and performance with the cameras disrupt those activities and social media ecologies or the performance that happens between real and Internet or virtual life.ġ. Through my performance with these cameras I intend to heighten the experience of taking/sharing self-images. There is no other interaction with the camera, no screen, no delete etc. Once the triggers are pressed, the camera captures two ‘selfie' pictures simultaneously and algorithmically interweaves them, then automatically broadcasts this image to twitter. For example, with the camera ‘NousAutres,’ two images are taken of two subjects facing each other on either side of a mirrored box, each holding a handle with a trigger (in extended arm).
My own dual-selfie and star- cameras form the central part of my research, and together are called Us_Others because they function at the boundary between participant, artist, and audience. Some of these works were recently exhibited/performed at John Curtin Gallery as part of SoDA15. My practice involves making electronic and algorithmic art around and from the selfie-such as custom designed, self-programmed ‘selfie-centric’ cameras or algorithmic lighting installations that display flesh tones from Instagram #selfie faces in real time. I have recently contributed an essay “#Me: Glimpses of Authenticity” to the book 'Ego-Update' which accompanies the NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf, exhibition on the selfie phenomenon (alongside some other super texts by Teresa Senft, Jerry Saltz, Daniel Rubinstein, Brooke Wendt and Adam Levin) and since 2013 have spoken at conferences and classes and to anyone who would listen. My practice-led thesis has brought me to look at the selfie from a number of perspectives-authenticity (both technological and existential), formal characteristics (tropes, facial close-ups, extended arm, mirror and immediate broadcast), identity play, celebrity/micro-celebrity and narcissism, potential (mis)use as object of big-data, human connectedness, and how the selfie, as object and as action is affecting our notions of the photographic self-portrait as genre of art practice and cultural artefact. I have just tuned in to this discussion-shame I missed it from the start-my disattention due to submitting my PhD thesis “The Human Use of the Human Face: The Photographic Self-Portrait in the Age of the Selfie” as you can tell from the title my PhD research is precisely on the selfie. Subject: Re: empyre Digest, Vol 132, Issue 11
0 kommentar(er)
