After completing the poster assessment I was determined to continue working around Instagram through an analytical perspective on the behaviours of individuals online, specifically with an interest in self design.
I looked into the work of Richard Prince, his work that deals with Instagram and his other collage work that deals with the female form and distortion. For me, I saw a clear connection between the two. Provided that my poster was talking about the ‘glitch’ we as consumers of the digital age have experienced in the way that we edit and manipulate our images. We have this distorted sense of control over what we distribute online.
I wanted to continue this notion of glitch through exploring the manipulations and distortions we make on our own images, influenced by the general aesthetic of Instagram (primarily the Kardashians). I wanted to engage with the idea that everything is altered in some way – either cosmetically or digitally – and we fail to notice because this has become the norm, it has become the aesthetic that we a conditioned to accept.
Whilst that point talks about the implicit changes that are intended to look as though they aren’t there, I wanted to focus more on creating a work that exposed these changes, made them absurdly explicit. I wanted to create a work that also focused on the idealized features of a woman that are portrayed online – incredible bone structure, a toned stomach etc.
I feel as though I have achieved this in my work. The collage is representative of the ‘cut copy’ nature of our online representation. In the world of self design, we have the ability to manipulate our image and become very selective in what we choose to share. I don’t intend on criticising those who choose to change their appearance (unless its for different motives i.e. cat-fishing), but rather present an observation and exploration of this concept.
My final work is presented on Instagram via the account I created for the poster assignment. I used to app ‘Pic Splitter’ to post the image - this app cuts the original image into 9 separate images that when posted in the correct order form the image within the Instagram grid. I did this in order to fully cement my ideas surrounding Instagram. Each image is captioned with #selfie - representative of the comparison I draw against the explicit changes I have made in my work and the implicit changes made in every other Instagram posted online.
This can be viewed via this link: https://www.instagram.com/mona_lisa_babe/
Art-sheep.com. (2017). Richard Prince Sells A Work Featuring A Stolen Instagram Shot For $90.000 | Art-Sheep. [online] Available at: http://art-sheep.com/richard-prince-sells-a-work-featuring-a-stolen-instagram-shot-for-90-000/ .
E-flux.com. (2017). Self-Design and Aesthetic Responsibility - Journal #7 June-August 2009 - e-flux. [online] Available at: http://www.e-flux.com/journal/07/61386/self-design-and-aesthetic-responsibility/ .
Price, R. (2017). An artist is making $100,000 a pop off other people's Instagram photos -- and it could be totally legal. [online] Business Insider Australia. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/richard-lewis-instagram-photos-100000-dollars-new-york-new-portraits-copyright-2015-5?r=US&IR=T .
Richardprince.com. (2017). Richard Prince - Images. [online] Available at: http://www.richardprince.com/ltd-editions/