#ArtSelfie

# A R T S E L F I E
S H A Y A N A S A D I

W H A T I S A N # A R T S E L F I E ?
NOT AN ART SELFIE#ARTSELFIE

BRIAN DROITCOUR
“I DEFINE THE #ARTSELFIE NARROWLY. I LIMIT MY USE OF THE TAG TO
CASES WHERE THE ART ITSELF CREATES THE CONDITIONS FOR THE SELFIE,
WITH MIRRORS AND APPROXIMATIONS OF THEIR SHEEN.”

S E M I O T I C S O F T H E # A R T S E L F I E
• TRICK EFFECTS
• POSE
• OBJECTS
• PHOTOGENIA
• AESTHETICISM
• SYNTAX

T R I C K E F F E C T S
• TRICK EFFECTS – UTILIZE THE CREDIBILITY
OF THE PHOTOGRAPH IN ORDER TO PASS OFF
A MESSAGE WHICH IS IN REALITY HEAVILY
CONNOTED AS MERELY DENOTED IMAGE
• #ARTSELFIES VARY IN TRICK EFFECTS BUT
GENERALLY STRIVE TO DEPICT THE REALITY
OF THE PHOTOGRAPHED SITUATION
• THE QUALITY OF THE ARTWORK ITSELF MAY
HAVE TRICK EFFECTS IN WARPING THE
IMAGE OF REALITY

P O S E
• POSE – PREPARES THE READING
OF CONNOTATION
• #ARTSELFIES HAVE A NATURAL
POSE IN WHICH IT APPEARS THAT
ONE IS TAKING A PHOTOGRAPH OF
THE ARTWORK AND THE IMAGE OF
THE SELF IS CAPTURE BY CHANCE

O B J E C T S
• OBJECTS – MEANING COMES FROM THE
OBJECTS PHOTOGRAPHED – IF THE
PHOTOGRAPHER HAS ARTIFICIALLY ARRANGED
OBJECTS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR
INTENTIONALLY COMPOSED THE FRAME
• #ARTSELFIES ARE FIRST PICTURES OF
ARTWORK THEN #SELFIES
• THE REFLECTIVE QUALITY OF THE MIRRORS
ALLOWS FOR THE #SELFIE
• THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE ART BRING DIFFERENT
CONNOTATIONS TO THE #ARTSELFIE

P H O T O G E N I A / A E S T H E T I C I S M
• PHOTOGENIA – EMBELLISHES THE
CONNOTED MESSAGE BY
TECHNIQUES OF LIGHTING,
EXPOSURE AND PRINTING
• AESTHETICISM – TREATED AS A
MEDIUM OTHER THAN PHOTO
(PAINTING, COMPOSITION,
SCULPTURE)

S Y N T A X
• SYNTAX – SEVERAL
PHOTOGRAPHS CAN COME
TOGETHER TO FORM A SEQUENCE

# A R T S E L F I E ?
WHY DO PEOPLE TAKE #ARTSELFIES?
DOES THE #ARTSELFIE EFFECT THE ARTWORK OR
THE VIEWER’S EXPERIENCE?

@STEPHASY
According to my BFFL @mandipasek, my spirit emoji is 🐒 .
Romans 5:1-5 🙌 🐙 💕 http://twitter.com/stephasy

@STEPHASY
According to my BFFL @mandipasek, my spirit emoji is 🐒 .
Romans 5:1-5 🙌 🐙 💕 http://twitter.com/stephasy
The mirrored glass paintings have a way of puncturing the space--of giving the viewer the sense of
being there and not being there at the same time.

@YACOB_ROCKET "I am a curious child with a full head of hair."

@YACOB_ROCKET "I am a curious child with a full head of hair."
Filtering, refracting, and inﬂecting the environment, the seven panes of glass engage the viewer in a
physical and psychological discourse about painting and representation.

@MOLLYJOSHEART Hi my name is Molly, I make art and I am a director at
Eastside International. http://www.mollyjoshea.com

@FREDERIC_NET Frédéric de G Collector of moments and art - Paris,
Brussels, New York, art fairs...

• REFLECTIVE MOMENT
• SHARE APPRECIATION OF THE ART
• TO MAKE SENSE OF THE ART
• REMEDIATE THE ARTWORK AS A TOOL FOR A SELFIE
P U R P O S E S O F T H E # A R T S E L F I E

“WAS IT JOHN BERGER OR SUSAN SONTAG WHO OBSERVED THAT THE CAMERA (A MEMORY DEVICE),
IRONICALLY, ALLOWS US TO FORGET. SO WHAT IS FORGOTTEN WHEN THE SELFIE IS TAKEN? I THINK IT
REDUCES THE WHOLE WORLD TO A NON-EXPERIENCE.” ERIC FISCHL
“I LOOK AT INSTAGRAM QUITE A LOT. I’M HAPPY TO SEE PEOPLE PHOTOGRAPHING MY WORK, WITH
WITH OR WITHOUT THEMSELVES IN THE PICTURE. THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT INCLUDING THEMSELVES
THAT SUGGESTS PILGRIMAGE, LIKE TAKING A PICTURE OF YOURSELF IN FRONT OF A RECOGNIZABLE
LANDMARK AS PROOF THAT YOU WERE THERE. I APPRECIATE AND UNDERSTAND THAT.” WILL COTTON
“IT IS ALWAYS WONDERFUL TO KNOW SOMEONE ELSE OTHER THAN MYSELF IS CONNECTING TO MY
WORK.” KALUP LINZY
A R T I S T S O N T H E # A R T S E L F I E

A spectacle’s appeal derives its visual power from the ability to hold the gaze of the
viewer.
An auratic experience is felt during an interaction, which despite having a “unique
phenomenon of distance,” exhibits a sense that “the gaze is returned.”
The act of looking at someone or something “carries the implicit expectation that our
look will be returned.” “Where this expectation is met, there is an experience of the
aura to the fullest extent.” (Benjamin)
With the spectacle of a reflective piece of art, one’s gaze is returned by one’s own
reflection. This is captured in an #artselfie.
# A R T S E L F I E T H E O R Y
AS A SPECTACLE AND AN AURATIC EXPERIENCE

“Meaning and sense are the outcome of an interaction between artist and beholder,
and not an authoritarian fact. In modern art the viewer must make an effort to produce
sense out of objects. Where the decorum of the picture used to offer a frame and a
format, we must now often be content with bits and pieces. Feeling nothing means not
making enough effort.”
An image in a mirror is an image of coherence – the world and ourselves as complete
subjects in it make sense. It becomes a process of identification of internal self with
that external image.
The interaction required by an #artselfie creates a sense of identification between
one’s internal self and the external image, which in this case is the reflective artwork.
This self-identification establishes a sense of understanding of the work.
AS AN INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE

Jacques Derrida in his Deconstruction and the Visual Arts describes a virus as a
“parasite that destroys, or that introduces disorder into communication.”
This notion of a virus describes it as something that inhibits or prevents a sender from
successfully transmitting a message to a receiver.
In the case of the reflective art, it may or may not have been the artists intention for
the viewers reflection to infect the artwork. The #artselfie perpetuates this infection.
The #artselfie acts a virus which infects art (by transcending its original intent as
artwork) and multiplies it by sharing it with the public sphere of social media. The
object can then be further replicated by anyone who shares it with (or infects)
someone else.
AS A VIRUS

# A R T S E L F I E
THE #ARTSELFIE IS AN AURATIC, NETWORKED IMAGE
WHICH INFECTS THE ORIGINAL WORK OF ART.
AN #ARTSELFIE REQUIRES INTERACTION WITH A WORK OF ART AND
PROMOTES UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORK BY INCORPORATING
ONE’S SELF-IMAGE INTO IT.

#ArtSelfie

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